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THE BIG FOUR OF THE PEACE CONFERENCE. 
Orlando—Lloyd-George—Clemenceau— W ilson. 





















The League of Nations 

and 

The Peace Treaties 


FOR 

Junior and Senior 
HIGH SCHOOLS 


By 

WILLIAM L. NIDA 

Author of “Cawn of American History”, “City, State and Nation”, 
“Story of the World War”, “Following the Frontier” 

“The New World”, etc. 


President Wilson has expressed a desire that the people 
everywhere study and discuss the League of Nations 


HALE BOOK CO 

OAK PARK, ILL. 














Copyright, 1919, 
By 

William L. Nida 



APR db IbtU 

o. if 

©ft A586713 

'Ho. / • 




PREFACE. 


The need for a widespread understanding of the 
League of Nations both in school and among the citi¬ 
zenship generally is evident. Along with world 
democracy must come a better knowledge of the 
forms of representative government if this demo¬ 
cratic movement is to endure. 

Likewise the Peace Treaty with Germany with its 
new departures in world affairs must be studied and 
understood. 

Beyond the crying need for this information is the 
fact that the problems and discussions of the League 
and Treaty present a wonderful stimulus for intel¬ 
lectual growth. The subject will be a most interest¬ 
ing study in the schools. 



CONTENTS. 


PART I. 

Making and Signing the Treaty. 

Chapter Page 

I. Problems of the Peace Conference. 5 

II. Germany’s Envoys Receive the Treaty. 15 

III. How Germany Received the Peace Treaty. .. 21 

IV. The Signing of the Peace Treaty. 26 

V. The Family of Nations. 31 

VI. Attempts and Failures of a World League. . 38 

VII. The Feague of Nations in America. 44 

VIII. The Treaty Presented to the Senate. 47 

PART II. 

The Covenant of the League of Nations. 

IX. The Machinery of the Covenant. 53 

X. The Reduction of Armaments. 70 

XI. The Guarantee of Boundaries. 75 

XII. War-Preventing Machinery. 86 

XIII. Treaties Under the League. 99 

XIV. - The Monroe Doctrine.102 

XV. How Backward Nations are Governed.106 

XVI. Labor and Other Bureaus.110 

XVII. Benjamin Franklin on the League of Nations. 118 

XVIII. Will the Covenant Hold?.121 

PART III. 

New National Boundaries. 

XIX. Germany’s West Boundary.127 

XX. South and East Boundaries.141 

XXI. German Rights and Interests Outside Europe. 151 

XXII. German Interests in China.154 

XXIII. Peace with Austria. 163 

Appendix — Official Summary of the Treaty. 






















CHAPTER I. 


Problems of the Peace Conference. 

It is impossible to count the cost of the World 
War. Besides the hundreds of billions in money, 
the destruction of cities and the turning of thou¬ 
sands of productive acres to deserts, millions of peo¬ 
ple have starved and many millions more have met 
their death on the battlefield, on the sea, under the 
sea and in the air. Add to this the anxiety and sor¬ 
row of the people of every nation and we still have 
a tame statement of what this war has meant to the 
world. 

Should the world war ever be renewed, it would 
surpass in horror the worst phases of the conflict 
that has recently closed as far as this war out¬ 
stripped in these respects the wars of the past. 
When the armistice was signed the conflict was fast 
passing into a phase of unimaginable terror. Amer¬ 
ica was preparing for her foes the culminating hor¬ 
rors of the war, but it ended just as American 
chemists had developed a new process of destruc¬ 
tion, a poison gas, a single drop of which on the skin 
of its victim would be as surely fatal as a bullet 
through the heart. No gas mask could stop this con¬ 
tact spray for the destruction of human insects, for 
it did not need to reach the lungs. So terrible was 
this gas that it killed the people who tried to manu¬ 
facture it and special machinery had to be invented 
in order that it could be made purely by machinery. 
Great tanks of it were towed far out into the sea 
and sunk at the close of the war. 


I 

6 THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS 

Aerial bombs have been perfected to rival, with¬ 
out pilots, the work of the airship. Armed with 
wings these dreadful inventions, guided by elec¬ 
tricity, can be sent for a hundred miles and made to 
drop very accurately and explode. They convert 
their machinery into shrapnel, drench the region 
with poison gas, blast, or tear down anything de¬ 
structible at any determined point. Explosives more 
powerful than had ever been known were in process 
of manufacture. 

Let the world war be renewed, and there can be 
no doubt that new explosives, in larger quantities 
than have ever been launched in projectiles, will fly 
by their own power with their own wings for hun¬ 
dreds and probably thousands of miles to undo in an 
instant what man has taken ages to do. London may 
be annihilated from Berlin or Vienna, or New York 
and Philadelphia from any point in Europe. There 
is no reason to doubt the ability of a foe ultimately 
to launch destruction against America from Asia or 
the islands of either ocean. The step toward the acme 
of success in chemical and electrical warfare is far 
shorter than we have taken since the United States 
entered the war against the Central Powers. And 
back of chemical and electrical warfare lie the hither¬ 
to forbidden grounds of other sciences. We may 
next hear of bacterial warfare and its unspeakable 
possibilities. 

There is no such thing now as isolation. Already 
airships have crossed the ocean; and what one can 
do, a host can do. Nations are neighbors, one of an¬ 
other. A League seems to be the only barrier be¬ 
tween the world and the destruction of everything in 
it which we hold precious. 


PROBLEMS OF THE PEACE CONFERENCE 


7 


With the terrors of the past four years and the 
possibilities of future warfare in mind, the Peace 
Conference met at Versailles resolved upon two pur¬ 
poses; first, to end the World War; and, second, 
to end war for all time to come. 

On November 11, when the armistice was signed, 
Russia had collapsed into the hands of the Bolshev¬ 
ists, the Empire of Austro-Hungary had crumbled 
to ruin, and Germany was in the first steps of revo¬ 
lution. In Central and Eastern Europe Poles, Rou¬ 
manians, Czeclio-Slovaks and a dozen other nation¬ 
alities were clamoring for freedom and recognition. 

The peacemakers faced the gigantic task of re¬ 
storing fallen governments, of meeting the dangers 
of anarchy and of putting the world on its feet again. 
The ruined cities and fields, the destroyed communi¬ 
cations and the paralysis of all production and dis¬ 
tribution of food and clothing was overlooked by 
masses in the joy of peace. People thought that the 
Peace Conference could draw new boundaries, force 
terms upon Germany and smooth out the great up¬ 
heaval of four and a half years of war with ease. 

The people in subjection expected liberty, the 
hungry people, food and all nations, a guarantee 
against another terrible conflict. They wanted a 
peace that would conciliate Germany and at the same 
time force her to make just reparation for all in¬ 
juries. In the jubilation over peace people failed to 
see the difficulties that lay before the peacemakers. 
Nobody thought to study other great peace confer¬ 
ences and note the months they consumed before 
their labors were ended. 

President Wilson sailed for France at the head of 
the American delegation to the Peace Conference on 


8 


THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS 


December 4, 1918. Britain, France and Italy wel¬ 
comed our President in the hope that he would per¬ 
form miracles. The suffering millions of Europe 
expected Mr. Wilson to unwind over night all the 
tangle of problems with which European statesmen 
had puzzled for three centuries and had failed to 
clear up. 

The Fourteen Points. 

President Wilson had gone to Paris with his great 
„ principles of peace known as the Fourteen Points* 
and on these as a basis, the various nations, includ¬ 
ing Germany and other enemy countries, expected 
satisfaction. These peace principles are grand and 
noble and forward looking, but like most ideals, dif¬ 
ficult to put at once into practice in the world as it 
is today. It was not merely the justice of a claim 
that the statesmen of England and France had to 
consider, but what an effect the decision might have 
in the future. Only America with three thousand 
miles of sea for a frontier could afford to consider 
merely the justice of the case. Moreover, there was 
often justice on both sides. But France especially, 
had to think of the possibility of another war and 
who her allies would be. 

Self-determination is one of the main principles of 
world peace—that is that people shall not be bartered 
about from one government to another without hav¬ 
ing a voice in the matter. This is the ideal of de¬ 
mocracy which America stands for, but it is impos¬ 
sible to give all the world democracy immediately. 
We must realize that all peoples are not yet ready 
for democracy. 

The chief points in deciding a people’s fitness for 


♦See Appendix page XVIII. 



PROBLEMS OF THE PEACE CONFERENCE 


9 


self rule, are the status of their education, their ex¬ 
perience in Government, and their self control. Eng¬ 
land has extended self rule to her dominions by a 
system of promotion and graduation as fast as they 
have shown ability to handle the portion of Govern¬ 
ment offered them. Canada, Australia, New Zea¬ 
land and South Africa are practically independent 
nations. England’s treatment of her colonies during 
the period since the American Revolution, when she 
learned her lesson of how to deal with them, has 
been so fair that we place great confidence in her. 

America, following England’s example, is steady¬ 
ing Cuba and training Porto Rico, the Philippines 
and Hawaii by education and a growing part in their 
government, in the hope they may eventually be able 
to stand alone. 

There are scores of nations in the world in this 
condition, not yet fit for independence. Unthinking 
critics who do not realize this* unwisely demand self- 
determination everywhere. 

Other principles of peace there are, moreover, that 
conflict with that of self-determination. Each nation 
wishes a safe and easily defended boundary. If 
France must, alone, defend herself from Germany, 
she wants the Rhine River as the boundary, for it 
would be easily defended, and we see her need, but 
that would put German territory in her hands and 
be a new cause of war and at the same time conflict 
with the principle of self-determination. 

Italy, if she must defend herself, alone, wants the 
passes in the Alps, but there are a quarter of a mil¬ 
lion of German people in the Tyrol south of these 
passes, and a half million Jugo-Slavs in Istria and 
Trieste which Italy insisted upon annexing. 


10 THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS 

Another principle of peace and right is that all na¬ 
tions should, if possible, have free access to the sea 
in order that their trade may be unhampered and 
untaxed. Serbia has always longed for a port on the 
Adriatic Sea and this ambition has been thwarted. 
Austria, by fair means or foul, had prevented Ser¬ 
bia from having a seaport, which was one of the 
causes of the war. 

Now the only seaport for Serbia and the other 
Slav peoples joined with her in the new state of 
Jugo-Slavia is the port of Fiume but this city is 
mostly Italian in population. Italy therefore, de¬ 
manded Fiume upon the principle of self-determina¬ 
tion of the people of this port. 

If Jugo-Slavia were to have no seaport, she would 
be at the mercy of Italy. Since there was right and 
wrong on both sides of the question, the decisions 
when made had to be more or less arbitrary. Behind 
the rights and wrongs of each case were the inter¬ 
ests of the greater powers in cementing firm friend¬ 
ships for the future. 

Poland could not hope to long hold her freedom 
without the port of Danzig on the Baltic. Otherwise 
Poland’s trade with the world would be hindered by 
Germany and loaded down with taxes. Danzig was 
formerly a Polish city, seized by Germany and col¬ 
onized with Germans while the Poles were driven 
out. But to give Danzig to Poland was to separate 
East Prussia completely from the rest of Germany. 

There are many small nations of Europe, each of 
which was demanding self-determination and at the 
same time demanding a safe and logical boundary. 
To concede both demands was utterly impossible, 
yet this was expected of the peacemakers. 


PROBLEMS OF THE PEACE CONFERENCE 


11 


The aid of Japan was needed by England and 
France when the war broke out. Now Japan saw no 
reason for taking a part and sustaining the sacrifices 
without some gain. So England and France agreed 
that Japan should be allowed to take over Germany’s 
rights in Shantung. With this understanding Japan 
went in. 

Now Shantung is Chinese and on the principle of 
self-determination, should go to China. If Japan 
after it had been promised her, did not get it, the 
allies feared she would in the future ally herself 
with Germany and possibly Russia and there would 
be a rival league which would mean future wars. 

What was to be done with the German colonies in 
Africa and the islands of the Pacific? Germany had 
abused, exploited and misruled them and to return 
them to her was out of the question. If we should 
apply the rule of self-determination, we must imag¬ 
ine these ignorant natives having an election to de¬ 
cide their fate. What do they really know about 
any of the nations that would guide them in this de¬ 
cision? They are utterly unfitted for self-rule and 
will have to live and learn for a time under some 
civilized flag. 

The Balkan situation was a maze of conflicting 
claims. No two of those nations could agree as to 
where the boundary should run. Whatever the de¬ 
cision, there was sure to be bitterness and hatred, 
for the nationalities along all the borders are badly 
mixed. Who could apply self-determination here ? 

The great Austro-Hungarian empire had become 
a half dozen republics and a number of new un¬ 
trained nations were quarreling among themselves 
about boundaries. The Russian anti-Bolshevist 


12 


THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS 


leaders at Paris were as hostile toward the allied 
powers as they were to Germany because they be¬ 
lieved themselves deserted by their Allies. Russians 
at home were in the grip of Bolshevism which pro¬ 
claimed enmity against our whole western civiliza¬ 
tion. There could be no certain general peace in the 
world as long as a nation the size of Russia was 
dominated by this new and untried order. 

Belgium had been almost ruined commercially, for 
Germany had stolen nearly all the machinery from 
her factories and driven oft all her live stock. Bel¬ 
gium wanted a huge indemnity. Germany, who 
should pay, was not able to pay it all. What was 
true of Belgium was true also of France. 

Two alternatives were open to the Peace Confer¬ 
ence. They had to make peace on one or the other 
of two bases, the old basis, a military one, or on the 
new basis of a League of Nations. A peace on one 
basis was an entirely different thing from a peace on 
the other. 

There was France bled white, with but half the 
population of her enemy and Germany was tilled 
with a more bitter hatred toward her than ever. 
France was entitled to protection on her own merits, 
while moreover her protection and safety meant 
safety for the allied nations too. 

Now if peace were made on the basis of a League 
of Nations, Germany, should she ever open war 
again would be threatened by the united power of 
the world at once and not after three or four long 
years. France will be properly protected by this. 
But unless the world were to have a League of Na¬ 
tions and a treaty of peace on that basis, France 
had to have a military frontier. That military front- 


PROBLEMS OF THE PEACE CONFERENCE 


13 


ier was the Rhine. Without the League, France was 
entitled to this frontier; she could not protect her¬ 
self on a military basis without it. The minute that 
she had it, she had dominion over purely German 
territory and we would have again the old story of 
Alsace-Lorraine under another name, and sooner or 
later, a bitter and determined war would spring up 
between Germany and France, into which the whole 
world would be drawn. 

So the League of Nations was agreed upon by the 
peacemakers. If the League of Nations will hold 
and come to embrace all the leading nations, all will 
be well. But many statesmen have serious doubts. 
Until the people of England and America shall have 
shown their willingness to send their sons to the 
Danube or the Vistula or wherever necessary to en¬ 
force decisions made by the League of Nations, it 
will not be possible to prevent conflicts among the 
new and old nations of Central Europe and the Bal¬ 
kans. If the League does not hold, then, what will 
be the line up of allies ? 

It is not strange that England and France were 
eager to satisfy Italy and Japan and at the same 
time make a strong and friendly Poland to stand 
between a possible alliance of Germany and Russia. 
These were greater questions than human minds had 
ever been forced to face. Yet everybody expected 
that the peace treaty would soon be ready and raged 
at each week’s delay. 

Representatives from thirty nations worked long 
and patiently for fifteen weeks and then on May 8th 
a treaty of seventy-five thousand words was offered 
to Germany. No nation was entirely satisfied. We 
could not make a conciliatory peace with Germany 


14 


THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS 


unless we forgave all her debts. Had the Peace Con¬ 
ference done this, Belgium and Prance would have 
been bankrupt. 

Germany set out to dominate the world. There 
was no accident about her wanton destruction as 
against the mere waste of war. Her mad policy was 
designed to benefit German industry, while it turned 
Northern Prance into a desert and blasted the eco¬ 
nomic life of France and Belgium. To make Germany 
pay for this will bring much suffering to her people 
and it is expecting too much of human nature to 
expect them to see the justice of it. 

Germany hoped under the fourteen points to escape 
mainly the punishment for her gigantic crimes. We 
may therefore have to use force in the future to com¬ 
pel Germany to keep her promises because she made 
them at the point of the sword. These promises 
were forced from her and she repudiated them in 
advance. It was the French and Belgian indemnity 
and the Polish territorial question that most en¬ 
raged Germany. Somebody will have to see that she 
fulfills the treaty. France is not equal to the task 
and so asks England and United States to agree to 
support her. 


CHAPTER II. 


Germany's Envoys Receive the Treaty. 

The German delegates were invited to receive the 

terms of the Treaty from the allies in the dining hall 

of the Trianon Palace Hotel at Versailles in Mav. 

%/ 

Count von Brockdorff-Rantzau, the German foreign 
minister, had proposed to send three envoys to Ver¬ 
sailles to receive the text of the Peace Treaty. To 
this the Conference objected and Germany agreed 
to send representatives of plenipotentiary rank with 
power to sign the treaty. 

This delegation arrived on April 25. Their recep¬ 
tion was so quietly arranged, that few people in Ver¬ 
sailles knew of their coming, though police protec¬ 
tion was provided by the French Government to in¬ 
sure their safety. Barricades were erected consist¬ 
ing of wooden palings bound with wire and set up 
on both sides of the hotel. 

On May 7, just 177 days after the signing of the 
armistice, the German delegates were to receive, 
through Premier Clemenceau, the terms on which 
Great Britain, France, Italy, Japan and the United 
States and all the other Allied powers were willing 
to make peace. Delegates of twenty-seven nations 
were in the assembly. Those from America had in 
mind the fact that it was the fourth anniversary of 
the sinking of the Lusitania. 

The ceremony began at 2:20 o'clock, when serv¬ 
ants brought in great armfuls of the peace treaty 
and distributed them around the peace table which 


16 


THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS 


was arranged in a hollow rectangle. Gradually the 
hall filled with the main and lesser delegates. The 
assembly seated itself without signal about three 
o’clock. A few moments later an officer heralded the 
approach of the enemy delegation, saying in a loud 
voice: “Messieurs, the German Delegation.” There 
was some confusion among the Germans while they 
were finding their proper places. Count von Brock- 
dorff-Rantzau took the middle chair with his five 
colleagues flanking him on either hand. At the head 
of the table the striking faces of Premiers Clemen- 
ceau and Lloyd-George and President Wilson at¬ 
tracted the glances of the spectators. Marshal Foch, 
sitting with the French delegation, was another con¬ 
spicuous figure. The Greek Premier, Venizelos, and 
the familiar features of Paderewski, the Polish Pre¬ 
mier, also stood out prominently. Noticeable, too, 
were the impassive features of the Japanese and 
Chinese representatives. 

The Opening Address. 

Premier Clemenceau, as President of the Con¬ 
gress, rose and declared the session opened. He 
started immediately upon his opening speech paus¬ 
ing to permit translation into English and German 
by French interpreters. 

“Gentlemen, Plenipotentiaries of the German Em¬ 
pire : It is neither the time nor the place for super¬ 
fluous words. You have before you the accredited 
plenipotentiaries of all the small and great powers 
united to fight together in the war that has been so 
cruelly imposed upon them. The time has come when 
we must settle our account. 

You have asked for peace. We are ready to give 


GERMANY’S ENVOYS RECEIVE THE TREATY 17 


you peace. We shall present to you now a book 
which contains our conditions. You will have every 
facility to examine these conditions, and the time 
necessary for it. Everything will be done with the 
courtesy that is the privilege of civilized nations. 

To give you my thought completely, you will find 
us ready to give you any explanation you want, but 
we must say at the same time that this second Treaty 
of Versailles has cost us too much not to take on our 
side all the necessary precautions and guarantees 
that the peace shall be a lasting one. 

I will give you notice of the procedure that has 
been adopted by the conference for discussion, and 
if any one has any observations to offer he will have 
the right to do so. No oral discussion is to take place, 
and the observations of the German delegation will 
have to he submitted in writing. 

The German plenipotentiaries will know that they 
have the maximum period of fifteen days within 
which to present in English and French their writ¬ 
ten observations on the whole of the treaty. Before 
the expiration of the aforesaid period of fifteen days 
the German delegates will be entitled to send their 
reply on particular headings of the treaty, or to ask 
questions in regard to them. 

After having examined the observations presented 
within the aforementioned period, the Supreme 
Council will send their answer in writing to the Ger¬ 
man delegation and determine the period within 
which the final world-wide answer must be given by 
this delegation. 

The President wishes to add that when we receive, 
after two or three or four or five days, any observa¬ 
tions from the German delegation on any point of the 


18 


THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS 


treaty we shall not wait until the end of the fifteen 
days to give our answer. We shall at once proceed 
in the way indicated by this document. ’ ’ 

The French Premier added the customary phrase: 
“Has any one observations to make?” Count von 
Brockdorff-Rantzau raised his hand, but he was not 
recognized until the Premier’s remarks had been 
translated. During the translation Paul Dutasta, 
General Secretary of the assembly, moved almost 
unnoticed across the open space within the rectangle 
and deposited a copy of the Peace Treaty before the 
head of the German delegation. 

Germany Has the Floor. 

As soon as the translation had been concluded, 
Premier Clemenceau said: “Count von Brockdorff- 
Rantzau has the floor.” 

Count von Brockdorff-Rantzau, wearing big horn 
spectacles, then began to read a prepared speech, 
during which he with marked discourtesy remained 
seated. “The speech and the translation proceeded 
together, the Count’s guttural German ringing out 
on particularly vigorous words or phrases, as for 
instance, when he declared that the admission by 
Germany of the sole guilt for the war would be ‘a lie,’ 
and when he forbade the Allies to speak of ‘cruelty 
and murder’ in view of the sufferings and death of 
German civilians under the blockade which had con¬ 
tinued after the signing of the armistice. At these 
moments the German delegates seemed to stiffen, as 
they sat, stern and silent, with folded arms, by Count 
von Brockdorff-Rantzau’s side.” 

Count von Brockdorff-Rantzau’s Reply (in part) 

“Gentlemen: We are deeply impressed with the 
sublime task which has brought us hither to give a 


GERMANY’S ENVOY RECEIVES THE TREATY 


19 


durable peace to the world. We are under no illu¬ 
sion as to the extent of our defeat and the degree of 
our want of power. We know that the power of the 
German army is broken. We know the power of the 
hatred which we encounter here, and we have heard 
the passionate demand that the conquerors make 
us pay as the vanquished, and punish those who are 
worthy of being punished. 

‘ 4 It is demanded from us that we shall confess our¬ 
selves to be the only ones guilty of the war. Such a 
confession in my mouth would be a lie. We are far 
from declining any responsibility that this great war 
of the world has come to pass, and that it was made 
in the way in which it was made. The attitude of the 
former German Government at The Hague Peace 
Conference, its actions and omissions in the tragic 
twelve days of July, have certainly contributed to 
the disaster. But we energetically deny that Ger¬ 
many and its people, who were convinced that they 
were making a war of defense, were alone guilty.” 

The Count declared also that Germany was not 
the only guilty nation in its brutal manner of fight¬ 
ing. He complained bitterly of the continuation of 
the blockade after the armistice saying that hun¬ 
dreds of thousands had perished from starvation 
after the Allies had won. His chief object in this 
address seemed to be first to secure a peace based on 
President Wilson’s Fourteen Points (See p. XVIII) 
which Germany hoped to help interpret; and second 
to gain for Germany immediate admission into the 
League of Nations. By these two steps he hoped to 
win for the Fatherland a “soft peace.” 

On concluding his speech, Count von Brockdorff- 
Rantzau replaced his spectacles in their case, spread 


20 


THE LEAGUE OF NATION? 


his hands out upon the table and waited. Premier 
Clemenceau immediately arose and in one or two 
sharp phrases brought the proceedings to a close. 

The German delegates were the first to leave the 
Trianon Palace after the meeting. Before their re¬ 
appearance the military guard had been withdrawn 
in order to avoid any semblance of military honor. 
On their appearance, they were quickly shown into 
automobiles, which left immediately under a French 
and British escort, and moved through crowded 
streets in an oppressive silence. 


i 


CHAPTER III. 

How Germany Received the Peace Treaty. 

• 

The people of Germany, when the terms of the 
Treaty were made known, were much depressed and 
greatly excited. There were voices both for and 
against signing the Treaty. The German Chan¬ 
cellor of Legation returned to Versailles on May 18 
and said: 

4 4 You seem to fear we will not sign The Peace 
Treaty, but we will sign it, because, if we were to 
go back without concluding peace, we would be mas¬ 
sacred on reaching Berlin. The people hunger for 
peace and are growing impatient.” 

However on May 18, the political leaders and 
peace delegates at Spa agreed that the peace terms 
were unacceptable. They declared that Germany 
must leave no stone unturned in an attempt to satisfy 
the demands of their opponents, yet secure such 
terms as they thought were capable of being borne 
and carried out by the German people. 

On the same date President Ebert of the new re¬ 
public addressed a demonstration in Berlin saying 
that Germany would never sign the peace terms. He 
called them “the product of the enemy’s revengeful 
hysteria ’ ’ and said: ‘ ‘ Foreign countries will not per¬ 
mit the proscription of Germany. They will raise 
their voices with us that this peace of enslavement, 
which we will never sign, shall not come to pass.” 

The German cabinet held a peace meeting in Ber¬ 
lin May 18, with a number of war generals and re¬ 
presentatives of the various political parties. Field 


22 


THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS 


Marshal von Hindenburg said all further resistance 
was impossible. Chancellor Scheidemann referred 
to the possibility of an alliance with the Russian 
Bolshevist Government but did not advise it. 

German opposition seemed to center chiefly about 
the Interallied Commission on Reparations which 
the Treaty had created to collect indemnities. The 
Germans said that for them to submit to this foreign 
commission would be slavery. 

On May 20 the* cabinet made an official statement 
—“ Germany declines to sign the peace terms be¬ 
cause they spell the economic destruction, political 
dishonor, and moral degradation of the entire Ger¬ 
man nation.’ ’ 

A gigantic demonstration occurred in Berlin the 
next day when hundreds of thousands of citizens 
paraded the streets demanding that the government 
sign the peace treaty at once. About 200,000 people 
crowded the Lustgarten in front of the old Royal 
Palace where the Independent Socialists held their 
principal meeting. All the streets leading to the 
Lustgarten were packed with excited people crying 
“Sign the Peace Treaty! Sign the Peace Treaty!” 
Socialist leaders spoke, saying the only hope for 
Germany was to sign and they were madly cheered. 

The government tried to hold a meeting in Wil- 
helmplatz against signing peace, hut great parades 
of Independents marched down Wilhelmplatz sing¬ 
ing The Internationale, and swept the Pro-Gov¬ 
ernment crowd away. The Socialists remained in 
front of the offices of the Ebert government singing 
and shouting “Sign the Peace Treaty! Down with 
Ebert! Down with Noske and Scheidemann! Let 
us have peace! We want bread not bullets!” 


HOW GERMANY RECEIVED THE PEACE TREATY 23 


The following day there were riots in Mannheim. 
The inhabitants, fearing that Germany was not 
going to sign the treaty, stormed the municipal sav¬ 
ings hank. The revised Peace Treaty was made 
public in June. In spite of the cry that the modified 
peace terms meant the death of Germany, great 
throngs paraded in Berlin in June 19 demanding 
that peace be signed. 

Eastern Germany was greatly stirred. Danzig 
and Silesia were deeply excited. They had provided 
the best regiments for Germany. They resented the 
putting of Danzig under the League of Nations. 
Mass demonstrations, protesting against the signing 
of the treaty, were held in Berlin, Breslau, Danzig, 
Konigsberg and Cassel. Waves of protest, dis¬ 
appointment, anger and bitterness surged all 
through Germany. They said “hard terms had been 
expected but none so hard as these.’’ 

A movement to withdraw German war material 
from territory beyond the occupied areas began 
early in May. The withdrawal of German troops 
from sectors opposite the Allies’ defensive posi¬ 
tions was also reported. Thus matters stood while 
Germany debated whether to sign or not. 

The Scheidemann government resigned finally on 

June 20 so that a government could be formed that 
would be willing to sign the Peace Treaty. After 
the resignation of Scheidemann, Gustav Bauer be¬ 
came Chancellor. He was a conservative Socialist, 
and secretary of one of the German Labor Unions, 
a workingman with a common school education. The 
new Minister of Foreign Affairs was Herman Muller, 
formerly a merchant and later editor of a Socialist 
paper. 


24 


THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS 


In the meantime the Allies had completed all ar¬ 
rangements in case Germany should refuse to sign. 
All officers absent from their commands in the army 
of occupation along the Rhine were ordered to re¬ 
turn. By May 27 the Blockade Commission at Paris 
was ready to put a more complete blockade of Ger¬ 
many in force. The military forces were all to be 
used if necessary and all commerce and food sup¬ 
plies were to be cut off. Had Germany refused the 
Treaty she would have had seventy-two hours ’ notice 
that the armistice was to be ended and the war re¬ 
sumed. At the end of that time British, French and 
American troops were to advance into Germany. 

At once the blockade was to be enforced as tightly 
as possible, preventing the entry of food or raw 
materials into the country and Germany was to find 
herself cut off from the rest of the world. The neu¬ 
tral countries of Switzerland, Holland and Scandi¬ 
navia were asked to help in the blockade but they 
decided that such action would be a violation of their 
neutrality. 

Nine hundred American motor trucks began to 
move at midnight from west of the Rhine to the 
bridgehead area to be distributed at points of ad¬ 
vantage among the troops holding the zone east of 
the Rhine for use should occasion arise for the 
Americans to start an advance. The movement of 
the trucks continued the next day and the next night 
and made the citizens of Coblenz very nervous. They 
complained that the rumble of The trucks over the 
Rhine disturbed their sleep. 

The Allied Troops were ready everywhere for an 
immediate advance into Germany should it become 
necessary. Final orders from Marshal Foch to con¬ 
centrate troops were received at Coblenz June 17. 


HOW GERMANY RECEIVED THE PEACE TREATY 25 


An elaborate plan of military operation bad been 
drawn up for the invasion of Germany. According, 
to this plan the armistice would end June 23. At the 
moment of its expiration the various Allied armies 
were to move forward in an easterly direction be¬ 
tween the union of the Rhine and Lippe Rivers on 
the north and Mannheim on the south. Knowing of 
these preparations and being entirely helpless to 
meet them, Germany yielded. 

After long debate The National Assembly agreed 
on June 22 by a vote of 237 to 138 to sign the treaty 
provided they would be allowed slight changes. Two 
notes were sent to Versailles, the first saying it would 
be impossible for Germany to accept Article 231 
which admitted Germany to be the sole author of 
the war, or Articles 227 to 230 requiring her to give 
up for trial individuals accused of violating the laws 
of war. 

Clemenceau as President of the Peace Conference, 
speaking for the Allies refused to make any further 
changes in the terms and on June 23 the Germans 
voted to accept the treaty unconditionally. 

Germany had considerable difficulty in getting en¬ 
voys who were willing to go to Paris and sign for 
her for Count Rantzau had resigned. The treaty 
was of course unpopular in Germany and her leading 
men did not wish to be the ones to sign a document 
that so humiliated the Fatherland. At last, however, 
Dr. Herman Muller, Secretary of Foreign Affiairs, 
and Dr. Johannes Bell, Colonial Secretary, were pre¬ 
vailed upon to accept the unpleasant task and they 
were soon on their way to Paris. 


CHAPTER IV. 

The Signing of the Peace Teeaty. 

It was not by accident that the German Peace 
Treaty was signed in the Hall of Mirrors in Ver¬ 
sailles, a suburb of Paris, containing the Palace of 
the French Kings. This immense royal hall, with its 
three hundred mirrors had witnessed forty-nine 
years before, the humiliation of the French by the 
Germans at the conclusion of the Franco-German 
War. There was signed here in 1871 the crushing 
terms of defeat imposed by a victorous and ruthless 
Germany on France. When William I was saluted 
at that time as the German Emperor, he felt his 
hold on France was secure. He could not for see that 
in fifty years Alsace-Lorraine, which had been 
forcibly seized by Bismarck, would be handed back 
to France in the same historic town of Versailles. 
“The whirligig of time brings its revenges and re¬ 
versals/ ’ 

The dramatic story of the signing of the Treaty 
will be told for many years to come. On June 27 
the two German plenipotentiaries reached Versailles 
after nightfall. The signing was to occur at 3 o’clock 
on June 28. For the Ceremony carpets had been laid 
and a beautiful table with gilt and bronze decora¬ 
tions had been placed in position on the dais where 
the plenipotentiaries were seated. 

Four hundred invited guests, admitted by tickets 
which contained their photographs, were on one 
wing, and four hundred press representatives were 
on the other. The grand stairway up which the dele- 


THE SIGNING OF THE PEACE TREATY 


27 


gates came was controlled by guards in their most 
resplendent uniforms. Against the somber back¬ 
ground of the antique hangings of rich blues, browns 
and yellow, stood a few French guards in red 
plumed, silver helmets and red, white and blue uni¬ 
forms and a group of Allied Generals including Gen¬ 
eral Pershing, who wore the scarlet sash of the 
Legion of Honor. 

A dramatic touch was the presence of some griz¬ 
zled French veterans of the Franco-Prussian guards¬ 
men of the ceremony of 1871, who looked with grim 
satisfaction upon the turning of the tables and see¬ 
ing the Germans in the seats of the lowly. Forty- 
five soldiers of United States, England and France 
stood within the inclosure reserved for the plenipo¬ 
tentiaries. They were chosen from those bearing 
honorable wounds in bringing in a New Europe. 

All the diplomats and members of the parties who 
attended the ceremony wore conventional, civilian’s 
clothes. Secretary Lansing was the first of the 
American delegation to arrive in the palace. Premier 
Clemenceau entered a few minutes later, followed 
shortly by President Wilson. Marshal Foch was 
present only as a spectator. All the Allied delegates 
were, seated before three o ’clock except the Chinese 
delegates who were absent. 

Just before 3 o’clock the German press corre¬ 
spondents were ushered into the hall and took stand¬ 
ing room in a window at the rear. Presently the 
German delegates, Dr. Hermann Muller, German 
Secretary of Foreign Affairs, and Dr. Johannes 
Bell, Colonial Secretary, were shown into the hall. 
With heads held high they took their seats between 
the Japanese on the right and the Brazilians on their 


28 


THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS 


left. The other delegates remained seated accord¬ 
ing to a prearranged plan because of the discourtesy 
of Brockdorff-Rantzau on May 7, who refused to 
rise to read his address. 

Fronting the chair of M. Clemenceau was placed a 
small table on which the official copy of the Treaty 
of Peace was laid. It was to this table each repre¬ 
sentative was called in alphabetical order by coun¬ 
tries to sign his name and affix to it his governmental 
seal. 

The immense Treaty volume was on Japanese 
paper in a stamped leather case, printed in both 
French and English to be signed by twenty-seven 
nations. It was deposited on the table at 2:10 o’clock. 
A box of old-fashioned goose quills, sharpened for 
use, was placed ready for the use of the signers. 

M. Clemenceau rose and amid a dead silence in a 
brief address invited the German Delegates to sign 
the Treaty. There was a tense pause for a moment. 
Then the German delegates rose without a word and 
escorted by the Master of Ceremonies moved to the 
signatory table, where they placed upon the Treaty 
the sign manuals of the German Government. When 
the German delegates regained their seats, Presi¬ 
dent Wilson immediately arose and followed by the 
other American plenipotentiaries, Secretary of 
State Lansing, Colonel House and General Bliss, 
moved around the sides of the horseshoe of the sig¬ 
nature tables. 

The fact that President Wilson preceded Clemen- 
ceau in the signing of the Treaty was because alpha¬ 
betically in French the United States (Etats Unis 
d’Amerique) precedes France. The British dele¬ 
gation signed next, Lloyd-George and Balfour being 


THE SIGNING OF THE PEACE TREATY 


29 


followed by Canadian delegates, Australian dele¬ 
gates, New Zealand and India representatives. Then 
followed the French, the Japanese and representa¬ 
tives of smaller powers. Moving picture machines 
clicked away all through the ceremony and could he 
heard above the disorder of the throng. 

In thirty-seven minutes the signing was completed 
and Premier Clemenceau declared the conference 
closed and asked the Allied delegates to remain 
seated until the German plenipotentiares had left 
the building. “None arose as Dr. Muller and Dr. 
Bell went forth, evidently suffering from strong 
emotion. Outside an unsympathetic crowd jammed 
close to the cars that took them away. Meanwhile 
the great guns that announced the closing of the , 
ceremony were booming and the great crowd dis¬ 
persed.” 

The World War was formally ended. It had cost 
the warring nations one hundred and eighty-six bil¬ 
lion dollars, caused the death of seven million five 
hundred thousand human beings and left a post-war 
burden of debt amounting to one hundred and thirty- 
five billion dollars. 

* 

President Wilson's Cabled Address. 

“My Fellow Countrymen: 

“The treaty of peace has been signed. If it is 
ratified and acted upon in full and sincere execu¬ 
tion of its terms, it will furnish the charter for a 
new order of affairs in the world. It is a severe 
treaty in the duties and penalties it imposes upon 
Germany; but it is severe only because great wrongs 
done by Germany are to be righted and repaired; 
it imposes nothing that Germany cannot do; and 


30 


THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS 


she can regain her rightful standing in the world by 
the prompt and honorable fulfillment of its terms. 

i ‘And it is much more than a treaty of peace with 
Germany. It liberates great peoples who have never 
before been able to find the way to liberty. It ends, 
once for all, an old and intolerable order under 
which small groups of selfish men could use the peo¬ 
ple of great empires to serve their ambition for 
power and dominion. It associates the free govern¬ 
ments of the world in a permanent league in which 
they are pledged to use their united power to main¬ 
tain peace by maintaining! Tight and justice. It 
makes international law a reality, supported by im¬ 
perative sanctions. 

“It recognizes the inalienable rights of nation¬ 
ality, the rights of minorities and the sanctity of 
religious belief and practice. It lays the basis for 
conventions which shall free the commercial inter¬ 
course of the world from unjust and vexatious re¬ 
strictions and for every sort of international co¬ 
operation that will serve to cleanse the life of the 
world and facilitate its common action in beneficent 
service of every kind. It furnishes guarantees such 
as were never given or even contemplated for the 
fair treatment of all who labor at the daily tasks of 
the world. 

“It is for this reason that I have spoken of it as a 
great charter for a new order of affairs. There is 
ground here for deep satisfaction, universal reas¬ 
surance, and confident hope.” 


CHAPTER V. 

The Family of Nations. 

The first part of the Treaty consists of the cove¬ 
nant of the League of Nations, the chief object of 
which is to set up a world government that shall do 
away with war along with its burdens and horrors. 
If the League is to succeed the Nations must put 
aside their selfish ambitions and ascend to the nobler 
ideal of co-operation. The oceans have been bridged 
and we dwell on a planet shrunk to a neighborhood. 
There are those who accept this as a fact, and there 
are others who deny it. But facts do not depend on 
our acceptance or denial of them. If we refuse to 
see them, then they see to it that we feel them. It 
is possible and to be hoped that the nations are com¬ 
ing to realize their dependence on one another. 

Italy was buried under a tremendous debt. She 
had to have from the outside a million tons of coal 
a month and she had not a pound of coal within her 
boundaries. For months and months after the armis¬ 
tice Italy dared not disband her army for fear 
since there was no work for them they would organ¬ 
ize a revolution. She had to have cotton, rubber, 
copper, iron—everything, and she had little to sell 

to the world in return. 

✓ 

Prior to the war Italy imported 18 per cent, of her 
food. This grew to 34 per cent. In normal times 
Italy enjoyed a large income from foreign tourists 
and from Italians who had gone temporarily to 
foreign lands and who sent their earnings home for 
their families or who returned with their savings. 


32 


THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS 


Her tourist travel is likely to increase now that the 
war is over. Surely Italy should be in favor of 
peace and international co-operation rather than 
bitter rivalry. 

England is a great manufacturing nation. She 
has a vast population that her fields will not sustain 
and she is never but a few weeks from starvation if 
she were suddenly blockaded. England has plenty 
of coal and iron but must bring in raw materials, 
pass them through her factories, sell the product 
abroad and have enough margin to buy more raw 
materials and the food she needs. She is weighed 
down with a debt of billions. Small wonder that 
England wants a large navy to prevent blockade. 
England has everything to gain by world trade and 
co-operation with other nations. 

France can supply herself fairly well with food. 
Prior to the war she needed to import only 12 per 
cent, of her food. Afterwards it became nearly 15 
per cent. She is absolutely dependent upon the 
United States for cotton, on Italy and Japan for 
silk and on other countries for many raw materials. 
France is not a great exporting nation. She used 
to balance her annual account by income on her 
foreign investment. These foreign investments had 
reached 20 billion francs in Russian Government 
Loan, 5 billion in Russian Industries, 5 billion in 
Turkish Government Loan, a large amount to Greece 
and The Balkans. Most of the income on these 
loans disappeared after the war. France had a war 
debt of 300 billion francs. Before the war France 
had a very profitable foreign trade and an immense 
income from tourists. France seems now likely to 
devote less attention to agriculture and more to 


THE FAMILY OF NATIONS 


33 


manufacturing and commerce. Thus this nation, like 
Italy, Germany and Britain will need great quanti¬ 
ties of raw materials from abroad and a larger part 
of her food supplies. 

Germany is a great manufacturing nation and can 
only thrive if she can get raw materials such as 
cotton, wool, rubber, copper and the like. Prior 
to the War Germany had plenty of coal and iron 
but the loss of such territory as Alsace-Lorraine 
and the Saar coal mines makes Germany dependent 
upon outside nations for these vital things. With¬ 
out these outside raw materials Germany is bank¬ 
rupt. 

Moreover Germany must have markets for her 
manufactured articles. She can not sell them all 
at home. Prior to the war she had a remarkable 
trade with foreign nations, second only to that of 
England. Now, for the time being at least, she has 
lost the good will of the world. 

Prior to the war the Central Powers made great 
effort to build up their production of food at home so 
they could live while they conquered the world. Ger¬ 
many needed to import about 16 per cent, of her 
grain supplies while Austria needed 22 per cent. 
They knew that the British navy would prevent sup¬ 
plies from reaching them from overseas but they 
planned to conquer Roumania early and figured that 
Roumania’s surplus would fill their needs. 

Not long after the war began it became apparent 
that Germany and Austria had not figured correctly, 
for the drain of men from the land into the army 
and into munition factories and the lack of fertilizers 
soon curtailed the harvests very seriously, and this 
bore so heavily upon the enemy peoples that they 


34 


THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS 


began to long for peace to save them from starvation. 
It was estimated that food production in Germany 
declined 40 per cent, so that her people had to live 
on about one-half the amount they consumed prior to 
the war. 

Counting upon a short war the enemy countries 
used up their live stock too rapidly, their sheep, 
hogs and cows were used for food until there was a 
serious shortage of fats and milk. This situation 
grew more and more serious as the months wore on. 

The Central Powers conquered Roumania accord¬ 
ing to plan but the same decline in production had 
taken place there because the men were called from 
the farms to the army and factories. Thus Ger¬ 
many failed to fill its granaries from Roumania, 

When the revolution broke out in Russia, Ger¬ 
many left no stone unturned to destroy Russia’s 
power to fight and then to make a selfish peace in 
the hope of getting grain. It is true that in normal 
times Russia produces a very large food surplus for 
export amounting to 14 per cent, of her crops on 
the average. But during the war Russia’s produc¬ 
tion had also shown great decline by reason of the 
immense number of men called to the colors, the 
need of labor for war work and finally the revolu¬ 
tion which rent the country asunder destroyed trans¬ 
portation and reduced production. For many 
months food was very scarce in Russia and it is 
doubtful whether for some years she will be able to 
keep her people, especially those of North Russia, 
from want without imports. Thus the Central 
Powers failed to get enough grain from Russia to 
furnish their needs and famine came nearer and 
nearer. It is apparent that Germany with all her 
skill, science, organization and superhuma’n effort 


THE FAMILY OF NATIONS 


35 


could not feed her people without help from the out¬ 
side. 

Germany’s absolute dependence upon the outside 
world in times of peace first for raw materials for 
her people to work upon and then for a market to 
dispose of her manufactured goods, ought to con¬ 
vince the German nation that their comfort and 
prosperity makes necessary a kindly co-operation 
with the world. Will she comply with the treaty, 
join the League and co-operate, or will she nurse 
revenge and nurture her ambition to extend her 
boundaries by force? 

The other nations of Europe Belgium, Holland, 
Denmark, Norway, Sweden and the rest have like¬ 
wise become one with the family of nations. Each 
contributes to the welfare of others and each is 
dependent for its welfare on the others. They have 
advanced and prospered through their foreign trade, 
the foreign visitors to their boundaries and their 
money invested in foreign lands. Most of them im¬ 
port a large part of the grain they consume: the 
Swiss 78 per cent., Holland 66 per cent., Norway 65 
per cent., and so on. Even Spain, in spite of the 
richness of her soil imports a portion of the grain 
she consumes. So they all depend for their well¬ 
being, in one way or another upon the entire world; 
and any disaster like the recent war injures the 
welfare of every one of them. 

The younger countries of the Americas, Australia 
and Africa are no less dependent upon each other 
and upon European markets in which to sell their 
products and raw materials and in which to buy the 
goods which they cannot create themselves. 

United States with the almost limitless natural 
resources of its vast domains, is perhaps the most 


36 


THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS 


nearly able to stand alone of all the nations. We 
can feed ourselves and can supply most of the things 
we need fairly well. Yet when the war broke out 
we were greatly hampered by lack of certain fer¬ 
tilizers which we normally get from Chile and Ger¬ 
many. We needed dye stuffs, too, which we had to 
learn to make for ourselves. But we do not produce 
rubber and many other essential things, so that we, 
too, need the aid of the other peoples in the family 
of nations. We need outside markets for our grow¬ 
ing manufactures. 

For many years to come Canada will have to de¬ 
pend on other lands for the capital she needs to de¬ 
velop her rich resources and to build her railways. 
Canada needs an outside market for her grain and 
other extensive farm products and at the same time 
she must buy abroad large quantities of goods which 
she does not manufacture at home. Canada was of 
great aid to Europe in matters of food during the 
war. 

The condition of Australia, South Africa and 
Argentina is not far different from that of Canada. 
It would be tedious to refer to the manner in which 
every country in the world is dependent for its wel¬ 
fare on other nations. If by adopting the League 
of Nations we can do away with war and spend 
that much more needed energy upon producing food 
and other necessities the well being of the common 
people and, in fact, all classes everywhere will be 
greatly enhanced. 

Rapid transportation and communication by steam 
and electricity have made the world very small. 
Everywhere nations are touching elbows with one 
another. Wars are as foolish between nations to 


THE FAMILY OF NATIONS 


37 


adjust their differences as are fist figlits between 
citizens of the same neighborhood. The world has 
grown too small for isolation and the community 
of nations is here. 

Let nations behave toward one another as self 
respecting citizens of a community do. Let them 
co-operate. Those that refuse to respect treaties 
and obey international laws should be forced to do 
so. They should be given similar treatment to that 
meted out to lawbreakers in any civilized community. 
A league of nations in some form must come. 


CHAPTER VI. 


Attempts and Failures of a World League. 

Prom very ancient times men have been speaking 
and writing about the blessings of peace. Even the 
most warlike conquerors have declared that peace 
was their ultimate aim. Alexander the Great for a 
brief time brought peace to the world after conquer¬ 
ing it all, but be died shortly afterward. 

Rome extended her boundaries until they encom¬ 
passed all the civilized nations of the world and ex¬ 
cept for a few civil wars, with some lighting of tribes 
upon the borders she brought about world peace 
which lasted several centuries. Then Rome grew 
corrupt and the Empire fell to pieces in other cen¬ 
turies of fighting and bloodshed. 

Following the fall of Rome the Popes, which were 
all that held the ruins of the empire together, tried 
to bring world peace and a unified world state by 
means of the church, but religious wars arose and 
the independent states broke away from the Holy 
Roman Empire until Europe became a score of sepa¬ 
rate national states each ruled over by a monarch. 

Hardly had the religious wars closed in 1648 when 
England and Holland came to blows over the carry¬ 
ing trade of the world. This brought on strife that 
was not settled till 1713. 

The cost of these wars in blood and treasure was 
so great that men began to think of how to limit or 
check the injury and suffering that war always 
brought. A man named Grotius tried to write down 
a system of rules or laws for nations to follow that 


ATTEMPTS AND FAILURES OF A WORLD LEAGUE 39 


has come to be called international law. But all na¬ 
tions would not agree to these laws and there was 
no power anywhere to make all nations obey them 
or punish those who refused. So that down to the 
present and especially during the recent world war, 
certain nations have not hesitated to trample upon 
all international laws and treaties when they thought 
it was to their advantage to do so. Germany and 
her allies have been the worst offenders against the 
laws of nations. 

A League of Princes. Since the nations of the 
world seemed to show no desire to unite in one 
state for the purposes of world peace, it was sug¬ 
gested that there be a League of Princes to keep the 
nations from flying at each other’s throats. Each 
great Prince in turn was to be president and when 
differences arose among the nations they were to be 
settled by arbitration or by a congress composed of 
representatives from the rulers and these decisions 
were to be enforced by arms if necessary. 

For several years congresses sat at different 
places and tried to settle the quarrels between the 
rulers. But some of these rulers began to make 
secret agreements or treaties that upset all efforts 
of the congress for open and just settlements. It 
was found that if world peace were to rest on a 
League of Princes that the best way to begin was to 
send missionaries to the various rulers to turn their 
minds and hearts toward peace, justice and brother¬ 
hood. So long as nations were ruled by monarchs 
who looked upon their people as their own private, 
personal property and who were selfish and ambi¬ 
tious for more power and wealth there was no hope 
for world peace from a League of Princes. 


40 


THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS 


The Movement for Democracy. When the con¬ 
gresses and League of Princes failed to bring peace 
by co-operation, other wars arose, caused by the 
greed and selfish ambition of the monarchs of Eu¬ 
rope. Then came the desire to do away with mon¬ 
archs entirely. This movement toward democracy, 
started by the Thirteen English Colonies who threw 
off the yoke of George III, has gone on for a hundred 
years until with the close of the World War the 
nations of the earth are practically all self-ruled. 

But in the beginning of the movement for democ¬ 
racy, when Prance overthrew its king, the French 
Republic provoked a war with the kings of Europe 
in the hope of converting Europe to democracy by 
force. Napoleon became the supreme ruler of 
France, whose aim was peace by military conquest. 
Napoleon, after he had been banished to the lonely 
island of St. Helena, was fond of explaining that his 
life plan was to bring perpetual peace to the world. 
He thought that in order to bring in this reign of 
peace he should first have to conquer Europe and 
make himself ruler of it all. 

But Napoleon and all other militarists of modern 
times have found that it is next to impossible to 
destroy nationality. No modern national state has 
been crushed by force of arms save Poland, which 
is now again rising to its own. So the world learned 
from the great wars of Napoleon that permanent 
world peace cannot come by destroying or conquer¬ 
ing separate nations, but if permanent peace is to 
come at all it must come from the willing and eager 
desire of the nations to co-operate through some sort 
of a league. 

There followed the Congress of Vienna 1814-15 


ATTEMPTS AND FAILURES OF A WORLD LEAGUE 41 


which endeavored to lay the foundations of peace 
among the nations. But this congress was one of 
princes, not of peoples, and most of the sovereigns 
had begun to fear for their crowns. They looked 
with dread upon the young democracies of America. 
The countries of South America were throwing off 
the power of Spain and setting up republics like our 
own; but since the Revolution in France had seemed 
to fail, for a king had again been crowned there, the 
kings of Europe thought no republic or democracy 
could long endure. So they believed that the way 
to peace was to prevent revolutions, by force if nec¬ 
essary. This would, they thought, lead to peace and 
also make their crowns secure. 

The Holy Alliance. The crowned heads of Eu¬ 
rope therefore formed a Holy Alliance which was 
inspired by Czar Alexander of Russia. Alexander 
was a pious man and talked often of the rights of 
humanity, but he could not help being an autocrat 
and of course did nothing to educate or prepare the 
masses of his people for self-rule. In 1815, however, 
he persuaded the Prussian and Austrian rulers to 
sign with him the Act of the Holy Alliance in which 
they spoke of their peoples as being branches of one 
Christian nation. They said also that states no less 
than individuals were bound by the laws of God and 
they promised to rule their nations by these same 
laws of right and justice. 

This Holy Alliance was to be a universal union of 
Christian fathers of national families and George IV 
of England and the Pope were the only Christian 
princes who did not subscribe to it. But the Holy 
Alliance accomplished nothing. It held no con¬ 
gresses, passed no laws, and developed no constitu- 


42 


THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS 


tion or other machinery to carry out the agreements 
of the alliance. The work of keeping the peace was 
left to the Quadruple Alliance. 

The Quadruple Alliance. The Quadruple Alli¬ 
ance was formulated in 1814 by Great Britain, Rus¬ 
sia, Prussia and Austria. These four powers bound 
themselves by certain agreements and arranged to 
meet from time to time in congresses to transact 
their business. At the first of these congresses held 
at Aix-la-Chapelle in 1818 France was admitted to 
the circle and the Quadruple became the Quintuple 
Alliance. Some of the English statesmen were en¬ 
thusiastic over this alliance and what it would do 
for world peace. But in this they were mistaken for 
there soon arose differences. 

The English statesmen believed in the movement 
for freedom and democracy and therefore sympa¬ 
thized with the republics of North and South Amer¬ 
ica and with the struggles for freedom elsewhere. 
Austrian statesmen opposed these efforts toward 
democracy and wished to blot out all these revolu¬ 
tions by force of arms. It was planned to aid Spain 
to win back her colonies in South America. So in 
1823 England broke away from the Quintuple Alli¬ 
ance and came to the support of President Monroe, 
who then issued the famous Monroe Doctrine in 
support of the new republics in South America. 

In 1830 another revolution took place in France 
and she, too, severed relations with the Alliance, 
which now became only the Triple Alliance. With 
no nation left in the alliance to support the rights 
of the common people Russia, Prussia and Austria 
balked all attempts of their own people to obtain a 


ATTEMPTS AND FAILURES OF A WORLD LEAGUE 43 


voice in their governments until in 1848 revolutions 
broke out again in Germany and Austria. 

It was becoming clearer that nations could not 
safely combine for even so noble a purpose as world 
peace until they got rid of their autocratic rulers. 
The people of both Germany and Austria failed in 
1848 to obtain self-rule, but the old alliance of kings 
disappeared to be followed later by two rival leagues 
of nations, the Triple Alliance of Germany, Austria 
and Italy on the one band, and the Triple Entente 
on the other—England, France and Russia. And 
we have recently seen bow these two leagues have 
failed to keep world peace. But the recent victory 
over militarism with its kaisers and czars has made 
the world free for democracy. Now at last the way 
is open for free nations to co-operate for a lasting 
peace. 

A League of Nations, if it is to succeed, must be 
based on a common wish of the people to maintain 
peace just as the people of England and United 
States have kept peace between them for a hundred 
years. We have had peace for a century on the fron¬ 
tier of United States and Canada without any cost 
of life, limb or treasure because the people of both 
nations have overcome their desire for conquest and 
their frontier has been defended by common good¬ 
will. But if a League is to succeed there must be 
a willingness of the nations to fight, if necessary, 
to repress the ambitions of those who would break 
the peace. 


CHAPTER VII. 

The League of Nations in America. 

The tentative draft of the covenant of the League 
of Nations was sent to Congress by President Wil¬ 
son in February, 1919, asking them to confer with 
him upon the subject upon his return to the White 
House. 

President Wilson came home in February, landed 
in Boston and was greeted by two hundred thousand 
of his fellow citizens who had made holiday to honor 
him. He was soon in Washington where many sena¬ 
tors attacked the League of Nations. They objected 
to Article X, they declared the League would imperil 
the Monroe Doctrine, they warned against leaving 
the Central Powers out, they pointed out that it 
would be impossible for a dissatisfied nation to get 
out of the League, they wanted the League separated 
from the Treaty. 

The American people were greatly interested and 
the debate on the League was warm from coast to 
coast. Its chief opponents were Republican mem¬ 
bers of the United States Senate. Some were against 
the League unless it were amended, others were 
wholly opposed to our entering it whether it was 
amended or not. Business and educational organiza¬ 
tions and churches the country over were discussing 
the proposed League. 

The Lodge-Lowell Debate. 

President Lowell of Harvard invited Senator 
Lodge to debate the matter with him publicly. The 
Boston people were much excited over the Lodge- 


THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS IN AMERICA 


45 


Lowell debate. The two men were life-long friends. 
Symphony Hall, Boston, was the place of their meet¬ 
ing. There was a demand for tickets from Maine 
to California. Seventy-five thousand people applied 
for admission to this hall, which would seat three 
thousand. There were correspondents from English 
and French papers. It was a rainy night. The pon¬ 
derous pipe organ played popular music and every¬ 
body sang ‘ ‘ Onward Christian Soldiers ’ ’ and ‘ ‘ Star- 
Spangled Banner/ ’ led by men in khaki. 

Governor Coolidge escorted the debaters to the 
platform. Senator Lodge in a neat business suit, 
President Lowell attired in evening clothes with 
white tie. Senator Lodge opened the debate, cover¬ 
ing his points ‘in well-turned phrases. President 
Lowell was ready with his argument, going at a 
speed of three hundred words a minute. There was 
hardly a phase of the League not covered in the dis¬ 
cussion. There was not the difference of opinion 
between the debaters that one expected, for Senator 
Lodge proved a good dodger. It was largely a mat¬ 
ter of amendment and revision to make the thing 
work. 

The attack on the League in America silenced the 
critics in Europe, and brought the nations there 
heartily to the supjDort of the League, for although 
their people were not unanimous in its approval, 
they preferred it to no league at all. Only Germany 
denounced it. 

The attitude of England toward the League and 
America was summed up by Mr. Balfour in these 
words: 

“One of the most important things to be decided, 
though not by us, is the share our brothers across 


46 


THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS 


the Atlantic are going to take in these new responsi¬ 
bilities. It would be an impertinence on our part to 
offer them advice, and I should not like to seem to 
be doing so. But I may say that an immense respon¬ 
sibility rests on the American people. They have 
come into the war. Their action has had a profound 
importance. Their service to mankind in this crisis 
will make a great page in their history. But that 
service is only half accomplished if they do not take 
a share in the even more responsible labors of 
peace/’ 

When Congress adjourned on March 4tli, Presi¬ 
dent Wilson left for New York on his way back to 
Paris. At New York he was to address a large audi¬ 
ence at the Metropolitan Opera House. On the same 
platform with him was to appear former President 
William H. Taft, who had long been an advocate of 
a League of Nations, and who was independent 
enough to stand against his other party leaders on 
this question. 

The large auditorium was thronged. The Demo¬ 
cratic President and the Republican ex-President 
came on the platform arm in arm amid great and 
loud applause. Mr. Taft’s address preceded that of 
Mr. Wilson and both heartily supported the pro¬ 
posed League, Mr. Taft suggesting certain amend¬ 
ments, as for example, on the Monroe Doctrine. 

President Wilson soon left for Paris, where he 
presented certain amendments to the Covenant of 
the League and they were accepted and became a 
part of the document which now awaited only the 
completion of peace terms to be ready for Germany 
and other nations to sign. These terms, as we have 
read, were at last signed. 


CHAPTER VIII. 


* 


The Treaty Presented to the Senate. 

On the evening of June 26th, President Poincare 
of France gave a dinner to President Wilson and 
all the American peace delegates. Upon this occa¬ 
sion our President, in reply to a toast, said in part: 

“As I go away from these scenes I think I shall 
realize that I have been present at one of the most 
vital things that have happened in the history of 
nations. Nations have formed contracts with each 
other before, but they have never formed partner¬ 
ships. They have associated themselves temporarily 
but they have never before associated themselves 
permanently .’ 1 

On the homeward voyage the President made an 
address to the assembled soldiers and sailors in 
which he uttered many tine sentiments: 

“The laws of freedom are these: Accommodate 
your interests to other people’s interests; that you 
shall not insist on standing in the light of other peo¬ 
ple, but that you shall make a member of a team 
of yourself, and that the interests of the team shall 
take precedence in everything that you do to your 
interest as an individual. If I infringe on the rights 
of others, I presently find myself deprived of my 
own freedom. One reason why America has been 
free, I take leave to say, is that America has been 
intelligent enough to be free. It takes a lot of in¬ 
telligence to be free. Stupid people do not know 
how. ’ ’ 


48 


THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS 


The President arrived home on July 8, escorted 
into New York harbor by a great fleet of warships. 
Once on home soil he was greeted by vast throngs 
and a great demonstration of welcome. 

President Wilson went direct to Washington, 
where, on July 10, he presented the Treaty of Ver¬ 
sailles to the Senate of the United States. His ad¬ 
dress was received by a brilliant audience that 
crowded the Senate chamber. 

The President’s Address (In Part). 

11 Gentlemen of the Senate: The treaty of peace 
with Germany was signed at Versailles on June 28. 
I avail myself of the earliest opportunity to lay the 
treaty before you for ratification and to inform you 
with regard to the work of the conference by which 
that treaty was formulated. 

“The United States entered the war upon a differ¬ 
ent footing from every other nation except our asso¬ 
ciates on this side of the sea. We entered it, not 
because our material interests were directly threat¬ 
ened or because any special treaty obligations to 
which we were parties had been violated, but only 
because we saw that supremacy and even the validity 
of right everywhere put in jeopardy and free govern¬ 
ment likely to be everywhere imperiled by the intol¬ 
erable aggression of a power which respected neither 
right nor obligation and whose very system of gov¬ 
ernment flouted the rights of the citizen as against 
the autocratic authority of his governors. 

“And in the settlements of the peace we have 
sought no special reparation for ourselves, but only 
the restoration of right and the assurance of liberty 
everywhere that the effects of the settlement were 


THE TREATY PRESENTED TO THE SENATE 49 

* 

to be felt. We entered the war as the disinterested 
champions of right and we interested ourselves in 
the terms of the peace in no other capacity. 

“Old entanglements of every kind stood in the 
way—promises which governments had made to one 
another in the days when might and right were con¬ 
fused and the power of the victor was without re¬ 
straint. Engagements which contemplated any dis¬ 
positions of territory, any extensions of sovereignty 
that might seem to be to the interest of those who 
had the power to insist upon them had been entered 
into without thought of what the peoples concerned 
might wish or profit by; and these could not always 
be honorably brushed aside. 

“It was not easy to graft the new order of ideas 
on the old, and some of the fruits of the grafting 
may, I fear, for a time be bitter. But, with very few 
exceptions, the men who sat with us at the peace 
table desired as sincerely as we did to get away from 
the bad influences, the illegitimate purposes, the 
demoralizing ambitions, the international counsels 
and expedients out of which the sinister designs of 
Germany had sprung as a natural growth. * 

They spoke the conscience of the world as well as 
the conscience of America, and I am happy to pay 
my tribute of respect and gratitude to the able, for¬ 
ward-looking men with whom it was my privilege 
to co-operate for their unfailing spirit of co-opera¬ 
tion, their constant effort to accommodate the inter¬ 
ests they represented to the principles we were all 
agreed upon. 

“The difficulties, which were many, lay in the cir¬ 
cumstances, not often in the men. Almost without 
exception the men who led had caught the true and 


50 


THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS 


full vision of the problem of peace as an indivisible 
whole, a problem not of mere adjustments of inter¬ 
est, but of justice and right action. 

“A League of free nations had become a practical 
necessity. Examine the Treaty of Peace and you 
will find that everywhere throughout its manifold 
provisions its framers have felt obliged to turn to 
the League of Nations as an indispensable instru¬ 
mentality for the maintenance of the new order it 
has been their purpose to set up in the world—the 
world of civilized men.. 

“War had lain at the heart of every arrangement 
of Europe—of every arrangement of the world— 
that preceded the war. Restive peoples had been 
told that fleets and armies, which they toiled to sus¬ 
tain, meant peace; and they now knew that they had 
been lied to; that fleets and armies had been main¬ 
tained to promote national ambitions and meant war. 
They knew that no old policy meant anything else 
but force, force—always force. And they knew that 
it was intolerable. 

‘‘ Every true heart in the world and every enlight¬ 
ened judgment demanded that, at whatever cost of 
independent action, every government that took 
thought for its people or for justice or for ordered 
freedom should lend itself to a new purpose and 
utterly destroy the old order of international politics. 

“Statesmen might see difficulties, but the people 
could see none and could brook no denial. A war 
in which they had been bled white to beat the terror 
that lay concealed in every balance of power must 
not end in a mere victory of arms and a new balance. 
The monster that had resorted to arms must be put 
in chains that could not be broken. The united 



THE TREATY PRESENTED TO THE SENATE 


51 


power of free nations must put a stop to aggression, 
and the world must be given peace. If there was 
not the will or the intelligence to accomplish that 
now, there must be another and a final war and the 
world must be swept clean of every power that could 
renew the terror. 

“The League of Nations was not merely an instru¬ 
ment to adjust and remedy old wrongs under a new 
treaty of peace; it was the only hope for mankind. 
Again and again had the demon of war been cast 
out of the house of the peoples and the house swept 
clean by a treaty of peace, only to prepare a time 
when he would enter in again with spirits worse than 
himself. The house must now be given a tenant 
who could hold it against all such. 

“Our isolation was ended twenty years ago, and 
now fear of us is ended also, our counsel and associa¬ 
tion sought after and desired. There can be no 
question of our ceasing to be a world power. The 
only question is whether we can refuse the moral 
leadership that is offered us, whether we shall accept 
or reject the confidence of the world. 

“The war and the conference of peace, now sitting 
in Paris, seem to me to have answered that question. 
Our participation in the war established our posi¬ 
tion among the nations, and nothing but our own 
mistaken action can alter it. It was not an accident 
or a matter of sudden choice that we are no longer 
isolated and devoted to a policy which has only our 
own interest and advantage for its object. It was 
our duty to go in, if we were, indeed, the champions 
of liberty and of right. 

“We answered to the call of duty in a way so 
spirited, so utterly without thought of what we 


52 


THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS 


spent of blood or treasure, so effective, so worthy 
of the admiration of true men everywhere, so 
wrought out of the stuff of all that was heroic that 
the whole world saw at last, in the flesh, in noble 
action, a great ideal asserted and vindicated by a 
nation they had deemed material and now found to 
be compact of the spiritual forces that must free 
men of every nation from every unworthy bondage. 
It is thus that a new role and a new responsibility 
have come to this great nation that we honor and 
which we would all wish to lift to yet higher levels 
of service and achievement. 

“The stage is set, the destiny disclosed. It has 
come about by no plan of our conceiving, but by the 
hand of God,, who led us into this way. We cannot 
turn back. We can only go forward, with lifted eyes 
and freshened spirit, to follow the vision. It was 
of this that we dreamed at our birth. America shall 
in truth show the way. The light streams upon the 
path ahead, and nowhere else.” 


PART II. 


THE COVENANT OF THE LEAGUE OF 

NATIONS. 

CHAPTER IX. 

The Machinery of the Covenant. 

If a League were to be organized there would need 
to be some rules and regulations and some machin¬ 
ery for putting its decisions into practice. So it was 
necessary to write a constitution or a covenant that 
would state what the machinery was to be. 

The covenant of the League of Nations is the con¬ 
stitution for the international government of the 
world. Its aim is to end international warfare, by 
providing means for the peaceful settlement of dis¬ 
putes between nations by prohibiting wars of con¬ 
quest, by reducing national armaments, and by ap¬ 
plying coercive measures to recalcitrant countries. 

The covenant provides the following machinery 
for international government: An Assembly, a 
Council, and a Secretariat. International Courts 
and Commissions are to be later created. 

The Assembly is a body of delegates from the 
nations in the League. Each nation may have three 
delegates, but only one vote. The Assembly will 
meet at stated intervals, or whenever occasion may 
demand, and at its meetings may consider any ques¬ 
tions affecting the peace of the world. 

The Council consists of nine members. Five na¬ 
tions, the United States, England, France, Italy and 


54 


THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS 


Japan, are permanently represented in the Council. 
The other four members are to be chosen by the 
Assembly. The Council is an executive body, and the 
real governing power of the League. It will meet at 
least once each year, and more frequently if neces¬ 
sary, and consider all questions affecting the peace 
of the world. Its decisions, save in matters of 
League procedure, must be unanimous to be effec¬ 
tive. 

The Secretariat will be the administrative arm of 
the League. It will function continuously. The 
Secretary-General will be appointed by the Council, 
with the approval of the majority of the Assembly. 

The seat of the League of Nations is established 
at Geneva. 

It was deemed wise to introduce the covenant with 
a statement of the purposes or objects which it meant 
to accomplish, so that all people might know what 
it stands for. This statement is usually called a 
preamble. 


Preamble. 

1. The high contracting parties in order to pro¬ 
mote international co-operation and to achieve inter¬ 
national peace and security, by the acceptance of 
obligations not to resort to ivar, by the prescription 
of open, just and honorable relations between na¬ 
tions, by the firm establishment of the understand¬ 
ings of international law as to actual rule of conduct 
among governments, and by the maintenance of jus¬ 
tice and a scrupulous respect for all treaty obliga¬ 
tions in the dealings of organized peoples with one 
another, agree to this covenant of the League of 
Nations. 


THE MACHINERY OF THE COVENANT 


55 


Arguments For. 

“War can, in large measure, be prevented, and 
certainly such wars as we have just shuddered at 
can be prevented; but this can be done only by a 
League, and a League powerful enough for the pur¬ 
pose is possible only if our country plays its part. 

A. Lawrence Lowell, Harvard. 


“The League of Nations means co-operation; it 
means the removal of the incentives of war; it means 
the removal of the machinery of war; it means, and 
has meant, the removal of those men that have ir¬ 
responsibly engaged in war-making. * * 

David Starr Jordan. 


“What we are to do by the League is by a stitch 
in time to save nine, by assuming comparatively 
slight obligations to protect us against the heavy, 
burdensome and destructive obligations involved in 
competitive armament and another general war, and 
to secure to us and to the world the blessings of per¬ 
manent peace. * * 

William Howard Tapt, ex-President. 

Against. 

“The country hasn’t the faintest conception of 
what the treaty contains. I have been amazed to 
find the number of things in which the United States 
is involved in the machinery of enforcement. * * * 
“ # * * This League ought to be redrafted and 
put in language that everybody can understand. 

Senator Lodge, of Massachusetts. 




50 


THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS 


4 4 The choice must soon he made by the American 
people between a continuation of national freedom 
and the acceptance of international bondage. 

“ * * * The central idea of the proposed cove¬ 
nant is that, if the United States will place all its re¬ 
sources, economic and military, at the permanent 
disposal of a League composed of the victors in the 
Great War, the League would possess a power so 
preponderant that it could impose peace everywhere 
on its own terms. The idea is not new. Prussia also 
had it.” David Jayne Hill. 


‘ < * * * This is not a League to achieve universal 
peace, but an unholy alliance of a few powerful na¬ 
tions, themselves dominated by a single Power 
(England), to enforce obedience and submission 
upon small and helpless peoples by threatening or 
waging irresistible war. * * * This is a cove¬ 
nant * * * for the protection of power.” 

George Harvey, Editor N. A. Review. 

Questions on the Preamble. 

Give the two objects of the League as stated in the 

Preamble. What do we mean bv international co- 

•/ 

operation? State cases or conditions in which you 
think nations should co-operate. By what four 
means does the covenant hope to bring about peace? 
What is meant by prescribing open, just and hon¬ 
orable relations between nations? Does this mean 
that the League shall write a body of new laws for 
nations to follow? Who lias been the worst offender 
against international law in this war? Can you 
state what law was violated when the Lusitania was 
sunk? State any other cases you can in which the 



THE MACHINERY OF THE COVENANT 


57 


Central Powers violated international law. Why 
did they do this? Who offended by violating trea¬ 
ties? 

Does Mr. Lowell say all wars can be prevented? 
What does he mean by a “League powerful enough 
.for the purpose?” What does Mr. Jordan mean by 
the “machinery of war?” Do you think all ma¬ 
chinery of war should be removed? Why or why 
not? Name an object of the League stated by Mr. 
Taft that is not given in the Preamble. 

What does Mr. Lodge mean by our country’s being 
involved in the “machinery of enforcement?” If 
a war should arise in the Balkans do you think we 
should use force to help stop it? Why or why not? 
Should we have done anything when Germany in¬ 
vaded Belgium? Give reason for your answer. Is 
Mr. Lodge’s criticism against the language just in 
your opinion? Compare the language with that of 
our Constitution for clearness. 

Read the last paragraph of Article I and agree 
or disagree with Mr. Hill. Compare the position 
of United States with regard to the League with that 
of the Thirteen States in 1788. Is Mr. Hill right in 
his comparison of the League and Prussia with re¬ 
gard to war? Where in the covenant can you find 
anything to justify Mr. Harvey in calling the League 
an unholy alliance? 

ARTICLE I. 

It was necessary to know who the charter mem¬ 
bers of the League were and whether other nations 
might join and on what conditions. Then too a 
nation once a member might like to withdraw. What 
rules were to govern these questions? 


58 THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS 

2. The original members of the League of Nations 
shall be those of the signatories which are named in 
the annex of this covenant, and also such of those 
other states named in the annex as shall accede with¬ 
out reservation to this covenant. Such accessions 
shall be effected by a declaration deposited with the 
Secretariat within two months of the coming into 
force of the covenant. Notice thereof shall be sent 
to all other members of the league. 

3. Any fully self -governing state, dominion or 
colony not named in the annex may become a mem¬ 
ber of the League of Nations if its admission is 
agreed by two-thirds of the assembly, provided that 
it shall give effective guarantees of its sincere in¬ 
tention to observe its international obligations and 
shall accept such regulations as may be prescribed by 
the League in regard to its military and naval forces 
and armaments. 

4. Any member of the League may, after two 
years y notice of its intention so to do, withdraw from 
the League, provided that all its inter national obli¬ 
gations under this covenant shall have been fulfilled 
at the time of its withdrawal. 

In the battle over the covenant the last paragraph 
of Article I, which provides for the withdrawal from 
the League of a dissatisfied nation, was constantly 
upon the lips of the contestants. The champions of 
the League claimed that this paragraph answers the 
objections of those who fear our acceptance of the 
covenant will embroil America in disputes and 
foreign wars in which America has no real interest; 
and that it is a safeguard against this country’s sov¬ 
ereignty or freedom of action being seriously lim¬ 
ited by the League. 


THE MACHINERY OF THE COVENANT 


59 


The paragraph is no such safeguard, the objectors 
assert, because other, later, articles of the cove¬ 
nant do abridge our sovereignty, and are designed to 
immediately plunge us into a maze of foreign en¬ 
tanglements in which we have no interest. Once we 
accept the obligations of the covenant, we are in 
honor bound to discharge them; and our good faith 
as a nation would prevent us from withdrawing, even 
if we so wished. 

The admission of Germany to the League is im¬ 
possible so long as the Allied armies are holding 
part of her territory and the armies must remain 
so long as there is doubt about Germany’s fulfilling 
her agreements in the treaty. Otherwise she will 
repudiate the treaty and escape just punishment for 
her crimes. 

Mr. Root objected to the uncertainty involved in 
the clause authorizing withdrawal from the League, 
since some one might claim that we had not per¬ 
formed some international obligation and this might 
keep us in the League against our will. 

Questions. 

2. Read in the Annex, page 114, the names of the 
original members of the League. Argentine was the 
first nation to adopt the League of Nations. Will 
she be one of the original members? Name the 
members of the British Empire that are members. 
What objection is there to them as full members? 
Do you think it likely that England can control these 
five votes? Give reason for your answer. Do you 
think Alaska or Porto Rico as much entitled to 
membership as India? 

3. How may new states or colonies be admitted? 


GO 


THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS 


To what regulation must such state consent ! What 
is meant by a state’s international obligations? 

4. Discuss paragraph 4. On what grounds might 
a state be refused withdrawal? How is this ques¬ 
tion similar to the rights of secession claimed in 
United States before the Civil War? 

ARTICLE II. 

Should the nations of the League wish to take 
some action, how would they come to agreement? 
Would the question be sent to the different govern¬ 
ments or nations to be voted on or would the nations 
send representatives to meet at some central place 
and act for them? This was settled by Article II. 

5. The action of the League under this covenant 
shall he effected through the instrumentality of an 
assembly and of a Council, with a permanent Secre¬ 
tariat. 


Questions. 

5. Compare the League with the American Con¬ 
stitution as to its organization. What are the ad¬ 
vantages of having two houses in a legislative body? 
See if you can learn of a legislative body that has 
one house. 


ARTICLE III. . 

Having decided on an assembly the question arose 
as to when it should meet and where, and what its 
powers or activities should be. How many votes or 
representatives should each nation have? Should 
a great and populous country like our own have 
more votes than a small country like Denmark? 


THE MACHINERY OF THE COVENANT 61 

G. The Assembly shall consist of representatives 
of the members of the League. 

7. The Assembly shall meet at stated intervals 
and from time to time as occasion may require, at 
the seat of the League, or at such other place as may 
be decided upon. 

8. The Assembly may deal at its meetings with 
any matter within the sphere of action of the League 
or affecting the peace of the world . 

9. At meetings of the Assembly, each member of 
the League shall have one vote, and may have not 
more than three representatives. 

Much was said to the effect that the basis of rep¬ 
resentation in the League is indefensible; but it must 
be remembered that the framers hoped to so organ¬ 
ize the League that all nations great and small would 
enter it. If nations were to be represented accord¬ 
ing to population China and India would have far 
more votes than England or France or the United 
States. This would have satisfied neither the ad¬ 
vanced nations nor the small ones. 

Should United States have demanded as manv 

•/ 

votes as the whole British Empire, then France and 
Japan and Italy would have refused to enter unless 
their votes were increased. 

Inasmuch as no important action can be taken by 
the League without the unanimous consent of the 
Assembly and the Council the single vote of any na¬ 
tion can block any proceeding. This is doubtless a 
weakness against effective action, but it is also a 
complete safeguard to every nation, and it was this 
safeguard that every nation demanded for itself 
before entering the League. 


62 


THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS 


Against. 

4 4 No one can successfully defend the basis of re¬ 
presentation, as provided for in the League. It as¬ 
sumes that any body of people not affiliated with any 
other state shall he called a nation and entitled to 
one vote, while any body of people affiliated with any 
state shall he considered as a province, and not en¬ 
titled to representation and vote in the League. The 
provision is a narrow, technical conception, and as¬ 
sumes that a state in the Union, like New York, with 
a population of 7,000,000, is not entitled to repre¬ 
sentation, while Panama, with a population of 
427,000, shall have one vote; Hedjaz, with a popula- 
lation of 300,000, shall have one vote, and even Li¬ 
beria is entitled to one vote. In effect, this gives 
the majority of the votes and the control of the 
assembly into the hands of the small countries that 
are indirectly controlled by a few of the large 
European powers. This basis of representation, as 
applied to the League, is a parody on justice, and 
some day, if the League become a reality, will de¬ 
feat the very purpose of the League. 

Senatob Smoot. 

Questions. 

6. Who may have representatives in the As¬ 
sembly! 

7. Compare the times of meeting with our Con¬ 
stitution and your own legislature. Where is the 
seat of the League! Debate the wisdom of this 
choice. Does Congress ever meet anywhere else! 
Does your legislature! What advantages or disad¬ 
vantages do you see in permitting the assembly to 
meet elsewhere! 

8. What matters may come before the Assembly! 


THE MACHINERY OF THE COVENANT 


63 


9. Discuss the matter of giving but one vote to 
each nation member whether large or small. Can 
you justify this! Who would object to basing the 
votes on population as in our House of Representa¬ 
tives! What was the method of voting under our 
Articles of Confederation! Was' it satisfactory! 
Do you think nations will send three or one repre¬ 
sentative! Give reason for your opinion. Does Sen¬ 
ator Smoot suggest a better method! 

ARTICLE IV. 

It was decided that the Assembly where all mem¬ 
bers had equal powers should not alone take action 
but that a Council or a sort of upper house should 
act as a check. Should membership in the Council 
be open to all members alike! How should the Coun¬ 
cil differ in make up and in power from the As¬ 
sembly! Should a majority vote decide all matters! 
These questions are answered by Article IV. 

10. The Council shall consist of representatives 
of the principal Allied and Associated Powers — 
United States of America, the British Empire, 
France, Italy and Japan, together with representa¬ 
tives of four other members of the League. These 
four members of the League shall be selected by the 
Assembly from time to time in its discretion. Until 
the appointment of the representatives of the four 
members of the League first selected by the As¬ 
sembly, representatives of Belgium, Brazil, Spain 
and Greece, shall be members of the Council. 

11. With the approval of the majority of the As¬ 
sembly the Council may name additional members of 
the League, whose representatives shall always be 
members of the Council; the Council with like ap- 


64 


THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS 


proved map increase the number of members of the 
League, to be selected by the Assembly for represen¬ 
tation on the Council. 

12. The Council shall meet from time to time as 
occasion may require, and at least once a year, at the 
seat of the League, or at such other place as may be 
decided upon. 

13. The Council may deal at its meetings with any 
matter within the sphere of action of the League or 
affecting the peace of the world. 

14. Any member of the League not represented on 
the Council shall be invited to send a representative 
to sit as a member at any meeting of the Council 
during the consideration of matters specially affect¬ 
ing the interests of that member of the League. 

15. At meetings of the Council each member of 
the League represented on the Council shall have one 
vote, and may not have more than one representa¬ 
tive. 

“The League of Nations is a league of unequals. 
It has an inner circle, the Council: and an inner cir¬ 
cle within the Council, the Big Five. It is not a 
league of equality nor is it democratic. The strong 
and weak should fare alike.” 

9 

Questions. 

10. Name the first five members of the Council. 
Can these five be ousted from the Council or are 
they permanent! What do you think of the selec¬ 
tion! 

Do you approve of having four vacant places to be 
filled later! If you. were choosing how would you 
fill these vacancies! Justify your selections. Discuss 


THE MACHINERY OF THE COVENANT 


65 


tlie temporary selection of Belgium, Brazil, Spain 
and Greece. 

11. How are new members of the Council to be 
chosen? How long shall these members remain in 
the Council? Ho you think Mr. Lodge’s criticism of 
the language as not clear applies to paragraph 10? 
What do you think of the criticism of the Covenant 
quoted above? If it is true, can you justify it? Is 
there any way of increasing the permanent members 
of the Council above five? Can the whole council of 
nine ever be increased? If so, how? 

12. How often does our Congress meet? Your 
Legislature ? 

14. Give argument in favor of the privileges of 
paragraph 14. 

15. What argument might be made in favor of 
our having more than one vote as against Belgium 
or Spain? 

ARTICLE V. 

-It soon appeared that nations were very much 
afraid of being outvoted in the Assembly or Council 
and would thus lose their sovereign rights and pow¬ 
ers. The framers of the Covenant evidently feared 
that nations might on this account refuse to enter 
the League. • 

16. Except where otherwise expressly provided in 
this Covenant or by the terms of this treaty , deci¬ 
sions at any meeting of the Assembly or of the Coun¬ 
cil shall require the agreement of all the members of 
the League represented at the meeting. 

17. All matters of procedure of meetings of the 
Assembly or of the Council , the appointment of com- 


66 


THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS 


mittees to investigate particular matters, shall he 
reguldted by the Assembly or by the Council, and 
may be decided by a majority of the members of the 
League represented at the meeting. 

18. The first meeting of the Assembly and the first 
meeting of the Council shall be summoned by the 
President of the United States of America. 

The first paragraph of Article 5 contains the much 
discussed unanimity rule. In the discussion of the 
later articles it is frequently referred to. The de¬ 
fenders of the Covenant claim it is a sufficient safe¬ 
guard against the country being compelled to do any¬ 
thing it does not want to. The Covenant’s critics de¬ 
clare this opinion a delusion, since mere membership 
in the League will commit the nation to a policy of 
intervention in foreign squabbles and make it party 
to disputes in which America has no interest; that, 
being party to a dispute, the logic of events, and our 
obligations under the Covenant, will force us to take 
action whether we wish or not. 


Questions. 

16. What are the arguments for and against the 
requirement of an unanimous vote? Compare this 
with the Articles of Confederation. What majori¬ 
ties are required in the American jury system? Is 
this entirely satisfactory? Suppose the question of 
the Monroe Doctrine should come before the As¬ 
sembly or Council how is America protected? 

17. How does this compare with common practice 
in Congress? 

18. Can you give a reason that may have secured 
the honor given America in this paragraph ? 


THE MACHINERY OF THE COVENANT 


67 


ARTICLE VI. 

If neither the Assembly nor the Council should 
sit continuously some important questions might 
arise at an unexpected time and there would be no 
one to act promptly. 

19. The permanent Secretariat shall he estab¬ 
lished at the seat of the League. The Secretariat 
shall comprise a Secretary-General and such secre¬ 
taries and staff as may he required. 

20. The first Secretary-General shall he the per¬ 
son named in the annex; thereafter the Secretary- 
General shall he appointed hy the Council with the 
approval of the majority of the Assembly. 

21. The secretaries and the staff of the Secre¬ 
tariat shall he appointed hy the Secret ary-General 
ivith the approval of the Council. 

22. The Secret ary-General shall act in that capac¬ 
ity at all meetings of the Assembly and of the Coun¬ 
cil. 

23. The expenses of the Secretriat shall he borne 
by the members of the League in accordance with 
the apportionment of the expenses of the Interna¬ 
tional Bureau of the Universal Postal Union, 

Questions. 

19. What is meant by the Secretariat! Why 
should it be permanent! Where may it always be 
found! 

20. Name the first Secretary-General. (See an¬ 
nex, p. 115). How is this office to be regularly 
filled! How does this method compare with ap¬ 
pointments under our Constitution! 

21. Discuss this paragraph. 


68 


THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS 


22. Wliat is meant by paragraph 22? Is the 
language entirely clear? 

23. Look up the Universal Postal Union, and dis¬ 
cuss the fairness of this arrangement. 

ARTICLE VII. 

Should the League have a permanent capital or 
should it move from city to city? Should there be 
equal rights for women? These are points made 
clear by Article VII. 

24. The seat of the League is established at 
Geneva. 

25. The Council may at any time decide that the 
seat of the League shall be established elsewhere. 

26. All positions under, or in connection with the 
League, including the Secretariat, shall be open 
equally to men and women. 

27. Representatives of the members of the League 
and officials of the League when engaged on the busi¬ 
ness of the League shall enjoy diplomatic privileges 
and immunities. 

28. The buildings and other property occupied by 
the League or its officials, or by representatives at¬ 
tending its meetings, shall be inviolable. 

24. Geneva was chosen as the seat of the League 
of Nations because all through the war it was a point 
on neutral territory in the very center of things 
politically and internationally. All nations during 
the war set up a Genevan Bureau for the watching 
of their interests. It was the home of the Red 
Cross. The Alabama dispute between Great Brit¬ 
ain and the United States-was arbitrated here. Con¬ 
stantinople, Versailles and Brussels are too inti- 


THE MACHINERY OF THE COVENANT 


69 


mately connected with recent and painful events to 
be selected. The Hague is not conveniently situated. 

Questions. 

25. Under what conditions might a change be 
desired? Give the pros and cons as to Washing¬ 
ton or Chicago as a world capital. 

26. Is this section in harmony with the times? 

Discuss the wisdom of Section 26. 

27. What are diplomatic privileges and immuni¬ 
ties? Did Germany take advantage of this in the 
early part of the war? Give instances of abuses of 
it? 

28. Debate the wisdom of Section 28. 


CHAPTER X. 


The Reduction of Armaments. 

Article VIII provides a means for the reduction 
of armaments. The champions of the measure de¬ 
clare that it will abolish the unquestioned evils of 
swollen armaments and militarism; that it is the 
beginning of universal disarmament. The oppo¬ 
nents of the measure scoff at the others’ fine faith, 
and declare that the Great Powers, who will domi¬ 
nate the League, have no intention of disarming; 
that it is designed to strip of defensive power the 
smaller nations, and that if the United States should 
take advantage of the promise of the article and 
disarm (as, indeed, her entering the League with 
the avowed purpose of furthering world peace obli¬ 
gates her to do) she would be at the mercy of hostile 
and greedy foreign powers. 

ARTICLE VIII. 

29. The members of the League recognize that the 
maintenance of peace requires the reduction of na¬ 
tional armaments to the lowest point consistent with 
national safety and the enforcement by common ac¬ 
tion of international obligations. 

30. The Council, taking account of the geograph¬ 
ical situation and circumstances of each state, shall 
formulate plans for such reduction for the considera¬ 
tion and action of the several governments . 

31. Such plans shall be subject to reconsideration 
and revision at least every ten years. 


THE REDUCTION OF ARMAMENTS 


71 


32. After these plans shall have been adopted by 
the several governments, limits of armaments there¬ 
in fixed shall not be exceeded without the concurrence 
of the Council. 

9 

33. The members of the League agree that the 
manufacture by private enterprise of munitions and 
implements of ivar is open to grave objections. The 
Council shall advise how the evil effects attendant 
upon such manufacture can be prevented, due regard 
being had to the necessities of those members of the 
League which are not able to manufacture the muni¬ 
tions and implements of war necessary for their 
safety. 

34. The members of the League undertake to inter¬ 
change full and frank information as to the scale of 
their armaments, their military and naval programs 
and the condition of such of their industries as are 
adaptable to war-like purposes. 

For Article VIII. 

“This is the first of the four great steps toward 
securing permanent peace in the League constitu¬ 
tion, and is as important as any. One of the great 
factors in bringing on this war and in making it what 
it was, was the race in armaments between the Euro¬ 
pean nations. 

“Why should the United States not enter the 
agreement? It is objected that by doing so this na¬ 
tion is delegating to a foreign body, in which it has 
only one representative, the limiting of its power 
to defend itself from foreign aggression and possible 
destruction. It is said it leaves us 4 naked to our 
enemies. ’ 


72 


THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS 


‘‘The answer to the objection is full and complete. 
First, the council, in formulating the plan and fixing 
limits, must act unanimously. Therefore, the plan 
cannot be adopted by the council without the consent 
of the American representative in that body. This 
is a guaranty that the limits to be fixed would not 
be unfair or unreasonable so far as we are concerned. 

“Secondly, after the plan has been formulated 
and the limits fixed, each government must accept it 
before it is adopted. Therefore, the Government of 
the United States will consent and fix the limits of 
armament if they deem it wise. Surely this protects 
us against the arbitrary or unfair fixing of a limit 
by anybody but ourselves. 

“Our duty by joining with the family of civilized 
nations in such an agreement, to put a stop to the 
awful race of armaments, which if unrestrained, is 
sure to involve the world again in all its evils, is 
clear.” 

William Howard Taft. 

Against Article VIII. 

“The assertion that the United States may accept 
or reject the recommendations of the council respect¬ 
ing the limitation in size of its army is correct, but 
that is only at the beginning. What of the continu¬ 
ing situation to follow? Having once determined 
the size of its army in co-operation with other 
powers * * * the United States agrees that what¬ 
ever unforeseen needs may arise for the preservation 
of its territory or for the protection of its citizens, 
it will abide absolutely by that limitation, and it 
cannot thereafter increase its forces for any purpose 
except with the consent of the International Council. 


THE REDUCTION OF ARMAMENTS 


73 


“Much stress has been placed upon the provision 
that the council can take action only by unanimous 
vote. This provision has been heralded as a com¬ 
plete safeguard for and a great concession to the 
United States. Observe how it would work in this 
instance: Great Britain alone, without the co-opera¬ 
tion of a single one of her allies or friends, would 
possess the absolute veto power upon a proposal of 
this or any other nation to increase its land forces, 
however dire the need, for any purpose. * * * 

“Talk about disarmament! Does Great Britain 
propose to dismantle her fleet?” 

George Harvey, N. A. Review. 

\ 

Questions. 

29. Discuss the meaning of this section. 

30. Does this paragraph suggest that such plans 
are to be forced upon unwilling members? If any 
one nation like England, for example, should abso¬ 
lutely refuse to reduce armament, could she be forced 
to do so? Look up England’s attitude on disarma¬ 
ment. Did she ever suggest it to Germany? In spite 
of her navy is England to be feared? Cite the Ca¬ 
nadian boundary in your argument. 

31. Discuss the wisdom of this section. 

32. Suppose United States should adopt the plan, 
disarm and then have trouble with Mexico, could we 
raise an army without permission? 

33. Discuss the advantage to Germany of the 
Krupp munition works in the war. Debate: Shall 
private enterprises be permitted to manufacture mu¬ 
nitions of war? 

34. Discuss this paragraph. 


74 


THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS 


ARTICLE IX. 

The members of the Council could not all be ex¬ 
perts on all questions. How would they know 
whether nations were obeying the rules of the 
League on matters of army and navy unless they 
kept traveling about inspecting and studying? This 
would require all their time. It is modern custom 
in important matters to act on expert advice. 

35. A permanent commission shall he constituted 
to advise the Council on the execution of the provi¬ 
sions of Article I and VIII and on military and naval 
questions generally. 


Questions. 

35. Why a permanent commission? What class 
of men would probably be put on this commission? 
How would you appoint this commission, that is, 
how big would you make it and how distribute its 
members among the nations ? 


i 


CHAPTER XI. 


The Guarantee of Boundaries. 

One of the purposes of the League was to protect 
weak nations against the land-grabbing of a strong, 
ambitious neighbor. Suppose Germany should again 
decide that she needed Belgium and a part of France, 
who should say no 1 

ARTICLE X. 

36. The members of the League undertake to re¬ 
spect and preserve as against external aggression 
the territorial integrity and existing political inde¬ 
pendence of all members of the League. In case of 
any such aggression, or in case of any threat or 
danger of such aggression, the council shall advise 
upon the means by which this obligation shall be 
fulfilled. 

Article X has been described variously as the 
“teeth,” the “heart” and the “soul” of the»cove¬ 
nant. Unquestionably, it is the most important arti¬ 
cle in the document, and it is the one over which the 
greatest tight was waged in America. 

It obligates members of the league to defend na¬ 
tional boundaries, as defined by the peace treaty, 
against external aggression, with armed force if 
necessary. 

Those in favor of the covenant said that without 
the guaranty given in this article the league would 
be impotent to enforce peace; that the guaranty is 
designed chiefly to protect against powerful neigh¬ 
bors the new small nations of Europe. They say the 


76 


THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS 


words ‘ ‘ external aggression ’’ are a safeguard against 
the guaranty being used to suppress internal revolu¬ 
tion, and that the council may only ‘‘ advise ” and 
not prescribe the means by which the guaranty is 
to be fulfilled. This precludes the possibility that 
the nation could be plunged into an unpopular war. 

The enemies of the covenant generally admitted 
the league would be powerless, or nearly powerless, 
without the guaranty of Article X, but they asserted 
the true purpose of the league is not to enforce peace, 
but to protect possessions. They said the article is 
designed not to protect the small nations, but the 
great nations who have obtained enormous terri¬ 
torial grants from the peace treaty. They said that 
the words “external aggression” do not constitute 
a safeguard of the right of a subject people to revolt 
against its government, because the governing body 
of the league may consider any matter which 
threatens the peace of the world, and may easily 
construe revolution as “external aggression,” be¬ 
cause it threatens the peace of neighbor nations; and 
in such an event all the vast powers of the league 
might' be used, as were the powers of the Holy Alli¬ 
ance of the last century, to crush liberty and check 
progress. Finally, and chiefly, the opponents of the 
article claimed it will plunge us into wars in which 
we have no real interest and which we cannot avoid, 
since our obligations will compel us to regard the 
4 ‘ advice ’ ’ of the council as a command to be obeyed. 

For Article X. 

“* * * We will not have to take part in every 
petty quarrel that arises in Europe and Asia. In 
the first place, there are not likely to be many, if 


THE GUARANTEE OF BOUNDARIES 


77 


any, quarrels that lead to war. The Monroe Doc¬ 
trine, for instance, is nothing hut Article X limited 
to the aggression of non-American nations against 
countries of the New World. Yet the United States 
alone has maintained it for nearly a century without 
tiring a shot or losing a single soldier. Would not 
a declaration of the League of Nations, uniting the 
whole power of the world in the maintenance of a 
similar doctrine, be ample to insure that no more 
petty wars should take place! But if such wars 
should start, then the council will recommend what 
action shall be taken. The United States is always 
to have on the council one representative, who must 
join in recommending the course to be taken, and, 
as the council acts on the principle of unanimity, it 
is inconceivable that it will recommend that the 
United States send her troops to any part of the 
world except where we have a direct interest or our 
proximity makes us the logical policeman. Of 
course, in case of a great war or a conspiracy on 
the part of some nations to overthrow civilization,* 
then we would have to come in with all our might. 
But we should undoubtedly do this in any event, 
league or no league. 

“Article X, then, is not designed for the protec¬ 
tion of the great nations, who do not need it, but for 
the small nations. And every reason of humanity 
and expediency should lead us to add bur guarantee 
to that of the other great powers to make it effective. 

“Article X, in fact, is the soul of the league. It is 
the one proposal of the covenant that would bring 
international law up to the same high moral level 
of private law. At present international law is no 


78 


THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS 


farther advanced than private law was as far back 

as the twelfth century. ” 

Hamilton Holt, Editor of Independent. 


“ Throughout all history one of the greatest in¬ 
centives to war lias been the lust of ambitious rulers 
to extend their power and dominion over other peo¬ 
ples and to absorb the territory of other nations. 
After every great war the map of Europe has been 
changed and peoples have been transferred from one 
sovereignty to another without regard to their feel¬ 
ings or interests. The results of the present war 
are not different from those of all other great wars 
so far as changing the map of Europe is concerned, 
although the motives for such change are this time 
quite different from those which have heretofore 
controlled. We are now trying to restore to the 
different peoples of the world the territories which 
of right belonged to them, and to set them up once 
more as politically independent sovereignties, with 
the added right of self-government. 

“Article X of the covenant, therefore, wisely pro¬ 
vides that each member of the league shall respect 
and preserve, as against external aggression, the 
territorial integrity and existing political independ¬ 
ence of all members of the league. It must be borne 
in mind that this covenant does not permit the 
League of Nations to interfere in any uprisings or 
disturbances within a state itself. The right of revo¬ 
lution against oppressive internal authority remains 
unaffected and unimpaired, and every people is left 
to determine for itself what its form of government 
shall be and how its internal or domestic affairs 
shall be conducted. 



THE GUARANTEE OF BOUNDARIES 


79 


“The argument that this guarantee will involve 
us in every European quarrel is far-fetched, for the 
following reasons: 

“ (1) We cannot be drawn into any war unless our 
Congress first authorizes it. 

“(2) After all European armaments are reduced 
practically to an internal police force basis, any 
war, or attempted war, will be a small affair because 
of the small forces available. 

“ (3) The control by governments of the manufac¬ 
ture of war munitions and the destruction of great 
war plants like the Krupps’ will prevent wo(uld-be 
belligerents from getting the necessary supplies of 
arms and ammunition. 

“(4) In case of conflict in Europe the nearby 
powers would be called on first to provide the neces¬ 
sary forces, just as in case of conflict on the Ameri¬ 
can continent the United States would be asked to 
take the matter in hand. But, and I repeat it, in no 
case is the United States bound to go to war or 
supply an armed force without the authorization of 
the Congress.’’ 

William G. McAdoo, ex-Sec ’y. Treas. 


“It will be recalled that it was precisely this sort 
of an agreement which Austria-Hungary refused to 
make regarding Serbia prior to the commencement 
of the war. It refused to make a declaration regard¬ 
ing the political independence of Serbia. Any power 
which would be unwilling to covenant against its 
own aggressions would not be a fit member of any 
League of Nations. 

“It will be observed that Article X is limited by 
the words ‘as against external aggression.’ In re- 



80 


THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS 


spect to any other case there is no covenant. An 
internal revolution may overthrow a power; a colony 
or province may revolt and set up a government of 
its own; one country may make voluntary cessions 
to another, but with none of these has the article any 
concern. For the covenant to operate there must 
not only be aggression, but external aggression. 

“The idea of a dispute in the Balkans, for exam¬ 
ple, requiring the United States to send an army 
to keep the peace, is fantastic and far-fetched, to say 
the least. No Balkan state, nor any combination of 
Balkan states, could withstand the economic pres¬ 
sure which the great powers would bring to bear 
without tiring a shot. 

“The greatest value of the covenant is its reserve 
power; the knowledge and fact that the states of the 
world are in union against a would-be aggressor will, 
in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred, prevent and 
defeat aggression without the need of exercising that 
power. 

“From the point of view of the United States it 
must be remembered that the advice of the Council 
in any particular case to use armed force must be 
unanimous, and, as the United States is permanently 
represented as one of the nine powers on the Council, 
the concurrence of the United States would be nec¬ 
essary before the Council could give even advice in 
regard to the use of such war power. And even when 
such advice is given the war-making departments of 
the various countries will have it in their power to 
decide whether the advice should be followed or not. 
.In the case of the United States it would clearly be 
a question for Congress, and it would be for Con¬ 
gress, in the extreme case, to determine whether the 


THE GUARANTEE OF BOUNDARIES 


81 


obligation should be fulfilled by declaration of war 
or whether it could be effectively fulfilled otlier- 

w * se ‘ Oscar S. Straus. 

“The second great step forward involved in this 
League of Nations is Article X, by which the mem¬ 
bers of the League undertake to respect and pre¬ 
serve the territorial integrity and the political 
independence of all its members. This, in effect, is 
an organization of the united power of the nations 
of the League to maintain and preserve an interna¬ 
tional commandment, ‘Tliou slialt not steal.’ It is 
the union of the nations to suppress the spirit of 
conquest which led Germany to drag this world into 
the awful war through which it has just passed. It 
is the effective answer of the nations to the German 
declaration of principle that ‘Might makes right.’ 
It is the protection of the smaller nations against 
the spoliation of them by the larger and more pow¬ 
erful nations. It is the heart of the League and it is 
the effort of the world of law-abiding nations to 
defeat forever the greedy purposes of militarism, 
whether of Germany or any other nation.” 

William Howard Taft, Ex-President. 

The League of Nations says that the boundaries 
of nations, as now established, shall .never be 
changed by the methods by which they used to be 
changed; and that is right. Those methods would 
do so much more harm than even immutability that 
we must not let boundaries be changed by external 
aggression. 

It is far better, especially for the present, to 
establish the best possible geographic boundary you 
can and then sit on it and make it stay. But nobody 
should dream that that will last forever. This cov- 



82 


THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS 


enant which says the boundaries shall not be 
changed in the old way provides indeed no better 
way. But in the acceptance of it, it does, because 
any matter may come under the jurisdiction of the 
League of Nations by threatening the peace of the 
world. You can get into this court by disturbing 
the peace. That is a very bad method of establish¬ 
ing jurisdiction, but it is better than none, and in it 
is the seed by which it can grow, so that the League 
of Nations, as rapidly as the world will trust it to do 
so, shall acquire the jurisdiction to make in peace, 
those changes that will have to be made and that 
ought not to be made by war. 

Against Article X. 

“The obligations of the covenant distinctly in¬ 
volve war. When the contingencies involving it ar¬ 
rive, ex-President Taft asserts, Congress will have 
no choice but to declare it; and there is no means of 
knowing against which powers, or how many pow¬ 
ers, or for what duration, it must be declared, even 
though no American interest may be affected. By 
this covenant every war becomes a world war, in so 
far as the obligations of the covenant are concerned. 
Unless the covenant is a mere illusion and pretense, 
the United States would be bound to participate on 
one side or the other—the council would determine 
on which side—in every Balkan frontier quarrel in¬ 
volving a resort to arms; for, whatever errors the 
cartographers at Paris may make; under Article 10 
the United States would be pledged to preserve as 
against external aggression the territorial integrity 
and existing political independence of all members 
of the League. Not only all the newly formed states, 
but all the surviving empires scattered over the 




THE GUARANTEE OF BOUNDARIES 


83 


earth, become by this article proteges of the United 

States/’ t tt 

Jjavid Jayne Hill. 


If this covenant had been in force France could 
not have come to the aid of the thirteen colonies and 
neither in 1782 nor since could America have 
achieved her independence. Your and my United 
States could never have come into being. True, it 
may be'argued that our people would have fared as 
well, if not better, if they had continued to live un¬ 
der British dominion, but I cannot deem it an ex¬ 
aggeration to say that such has not been the common 
impression—not at any rate until now; and I doubt 
if it is today, despite the fact—and it is a fact—that 
if the proposed League shall become effective Amer¬ 
ica will presently revert in all essentials of govern¬ 
ment to her former position as a British colony. 

“Cuba, of course, could not have been freed be¬ 
cause, under the terms of the covenant, the United 
States, in going to her assistance, would have been 
held to have declared war upon the entire League. 

“Take a case immediately in point. One may or 
may not sympathize with Ireland’s ambition to 
achieve independence, but it is difficult to conceive 
of any lover of freedom contemplating with gratifi¬ 
cation her perpetual enchainment by England with 
the acquiescence and, if need should arise, the force¬ 
ful assistance of the United States. True it is, as 
claimed, that the League leaves to each member the 
privilege of dealing with internal revolts as it may 
see fit, but this mere fact, taken in conjunction with 
Ireland’s probable inability to achieve independence 
without foreign aid, leaves her forever at the mercy 
of England.” 

George Harvey, Editor N. A. Review. 



84 


THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS 


“ The section freezes the world into immutability. 
It makes the present generation decide the fate of 
all future generations. It takes no heed of new 
world events, of ever-changing advances and prog¬ 
ress. It assumes today to be the end, and that the 
men of today may write the history of tomorrow. 
It assumes to put the world in a strait-jacket, 
wherein there can be no movement for betterment 
or progress or humanity. 

The League of Nations comes to us after its prin¬ 
cipal members have been gorged with territory, with 
their boundaries and their limits increased beyond 
the wildest dreams, and with other immense tracts 
of the world’s surface yet to be distributed among 
them. After these enormous accessions of territory, 
when each of the four nations possesses lands far 
greater than ever before, the one going solvent 
national concern on earth undertakes by Article 10 
to guarantee forever these extraordinary territorial 
limits. 

Senator Hiram Johnson of California. 


‘ ‘ This article pledges us to guarantee the political 
independence and the territorial integrity against 
external aggression of every nation a member of 
the League. That is, every nation of the earth. We 
ask no guarantees, we have no endangered frontiers; 
but we are asked to guarantee the territorial integ¬ 
rity of every nation, practically, in the world—it 
will be when the League is complete. As it is today, 
we guarantee the territorial integrity and political 
independence of every part of the far-flung British 
empire. 

“Now, guaranties must be fulfilled. They are 
sacred promises—it has been said only morally 




THE GUARANTEE OF BOUNDARIES 


85 


binding. Why, that is all there is to a treaty be¬ 
tween great nations. If they are not morally bind¬ 
ing they are nothing but ‘scraps of paper.’ If the 
United States agrees to Article X, we must carry it 
out in letter and in spirit; and if it is agreed to I 
should insist that we did so, because the honor and 
good faith of our country would be at stake.’ 9 

Senator Lodge of Massachusetts. 


“Under the constitution, the Congress of the 
United States has the exclusive power to declare 
war. The proposed covenant puts the power of de¬ 
claring war in the hands of the Executive Council, 
in which, it is true, we have a voice, but not the 
constitutional voice. Thus, whether Congress 
wishes or not, whether the people wish or not, we 
may be forced into war * * * in a cause in which 
we have no real concern * * * under the penalty 
that if we do not go to war we shall by breaking a 
covenant of the League bring war upon ourselves 
by the balance of the world.” 

Senator Knox of Pennsylvania. 

Questions. 

36. Summarize Mr. Holt’s argument. Give your 
opinion of Mr. McAdoo’s argument. Explain the 
stand of Mr. Straus and Mr. Taft. 

Do you agree with Mr. Hill? Reason. What do 
you think of Mr. Harvey’s argument? Look up the 
disposition of the German colonies, page 107, and 
justify Mr. Johnson’s stand. Does he suggest any 
better disposition of these colonies? Are they able 
to stand alone? Comment on the argument of Mr. 
Lodge and Mr. Knox. 



CHAPTER XII. 


War-Preventing Machinery. 

Articles XI to XV, inclusive, constitute the war¬ 
preventing machinery of the League. They affirm 
the principle of arbitration, and provide the means 
for arbitrating all disputes between members of the 
League. Each member is definitely obligated to 
submit its cause to arbitration. 

ARTICLE XI. 

37. Any war or threat of war, whether imme¬ 
diately affecting any of the* members of the League 
or not, is hereby declared a matter of concern to the 
whole League, and the League shall take any action 
that may be deemed wise and effectual to safeguard 
the peace of nations. In case any such . emergency 
should arise, the Secret ary-General shall, on the re¬ 
quest of any member of the League, forthwith sum¬ 
mon a meeting of the Council. 

38. It is also declared to be the fundamental right 
of each member of the League to bring to the atten¬ 
tion of the Assembly, or of the Council, any circum¬ 
stance whatever affecting international relations 
which threatens to disturb either the peace or the 
good understanding between nations upon which 
peace depends. 


ARTICLE XII. 

39. The members of the League agree that if 
there should arise between them any dispute likely to 
lead to a rupture they will submit the matter either 


WAR-PREVENTING MACHINERY 


87 


to arbitration or to inquiry by the Council, and they 
agree in no case to resort to war until three months 
after the award by the arbitrators or the report by 
the Council. 

40. In any case under this article the award of 
the arbitrators shall be made within a reasonable 
time, and the report of the Council shall be made 
within six months after the submission of the dis¬ 
pute. 


ARTICLE XIII. 

41. The members of the League agree that when¬ 
ever any dispute shall arise between them which 
they recognize to be suitable for submission to arbi¬ 
tration, and which cannot be satisfactorily settled 
by diplomacy, they will submit the whole subject 
matter to arbitration. 

Disputes as to the interpretation of a treaty, as to 
any question of international law, as to the existence 
of any fact which if established would constitute a 
breach of any international obligation, or as to the 
extent and nature of the reparation to be made for 
any such breach, are declared to be among those 
which are generally suitable for submission to arbi¬ 
tration. 

For the consideration of any such dispute the 
court of arbitration to which the case is referred 
shall be the court agreed on by the parties to the 
dispute or stipulated in any convention existing be¬ 
tween them. 

42. The members of the League agree that they 
will carry out in full good faith any award that may 
be rendered and that they will not resort to war 
against a member of the League which complies 


88 


THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS 


therewith. In the event of any failure to carry out 
such an aivard, the Council shall propose what steps 
should he taken to give effect thereto. 

ARTICLE XIV. 

43. The Council shall formulate and submit to the 
members of the League for adoption plans for the 
establishment of a permanent court of international 
justice. The court shall be competent to hear and 
determine any dispute of an international character 
which the parties thereto submit to it. The court 
may also give an advisory opinion upon any dispute 
or question referred to it by the Council or by the 
Assembly. 

ARTICLE XV. 

44. If there should arise between members of the 
Leagure any dispute likely to lead to a rupture, which 
is not submitted to arbitration in accordance with 
Article XIII, the members of the League agree that 
they will submit the matter to the Council. Any 
party to the dispute may effect such submission by 
giving notice of the existence of the di§pute to the 
Secret ary-General, who will make all necessary ar¬ 
rangements for a full investigation and considera¬ 
tion thereof. 

For this purpose the parties to the dispute will 
communicate to the Secretary-General, as promptly 
as possible, statements of their case, with all the 
relevant facts and papers, and the Council may 
forthwith direct the publication thereof. 

45. The Council shall endeavor to effect a settle¬ 
ment of any dispute, and if such efforts are success¬ 
ful, a statement shall be made public giving such 


WAR PREVENTING MACHINERY 


89 


facts and explanations regarding the dispute, terms 
of settlement thereof as the Council may deem ap¬ 
propriate. 

46. If the dispute is not thus settled', the Council, 
either unanimously or by a majority vote, shall 
make and publish a report containing a statement of 
the facts of the dispute and the recommendations 
which are deemed just and proper in regard thereto. 

47. Any member of the League represented on 
the Council may make public a statement of the facts 
of the dispute and of its conclusions regarding the 
same. 

48. If a report by the Council is unanimously 
agreed to by the members thereof other than the re¬ 
presentatives of one or more of the parties to the 
dispute, the members of the League agree that they 
will not go to war with any party to the dispute ivhich 
complies with the recommendations of the report. 

49. If the Council fails to reach a report ivhich is 
unanimously agreed to by the members thereof, other 
than the representatives of one or more of the par¬ 
ties to the dispute, the members of the League re¬ 
serve to themselves the right to take such action as 
they shall consider necessary for the maintenance of 
right and justice. 

50. If the dispute between the parties is claimed 
by one of them, and is found by the Council to arise 
out of a matter ivhich by international law is solely 
within the domestic jurisdiction of that party, the 
Council shall so report, and shall make no recom¬ 
mendation as to its settlement. 

51. The Council may in any case under this article 
refer the dispute to the Assembly. The dispute shall 
be so referred at the request of either party to the 


90 


THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS 


dispute, provided that such request he made within 
fourteen days after the submission of the dispute to 
the Council. 

52. In any case referred to the Assembly all the 
provisions of this article and of Article XII relating 
to the action and powers of the Council shall apply 
to the action and powers of the Assembly, provided 
that a report made by the Assembly, if concurred in 
by the representatives of those members of the 
League represented on the Council and of a major¬ 
ity of the other members of the League, exclusive 
in each case of the representatives of the parties to 
the dispute, shall have the same force as a report by 
the Council concurred' in by all members thereof 
other than the representatives of one or more of the 
parties to the dispute. 

The champions of the covenant base their hopes 
of the League upon these articles. Here, they say, 
is a practical, workable plan for preventing inter¬ 
national wars, which is the true purpose of the 
League. Each nation is bound to arbitrate its dis¬ 
pute before proceeding to war, and the penalty for 
disobedience is so dreadful that no nation dare brave 
it. While it is still possible to have war, providing 
the arbitration fails to settle the dispute, the danger 
is remote, and the war will be localized. Moreover, 
the articles do not impair the sovereignty of the con¬ 
tracting nations; ample safeguard is given in Article 
XV against intrusion by the League into the nation’s 
domestic affairs. 

The enemies of the covenant do not attack the 
ostensible purpose of these articles; they are all in 
favor of arbitration. But they say that the proposed 
methods of arbitration by the League cannot be suc¬ 
cessful because the Council is a political rather than 


WAR PREVENTING MACHINERY 


91 


a judicial body, and its decisions will inevitably fol¬ 
low expediency rather than justice. Moreover—and 
this is their greater objection—Article XV does not 
guarantee the sovereignty of the contracting nations. 
Under the rule of these articles such domestic ques¬ 
tions as immigration and the tariff, which have an 
international aspect, will be placed under jurisdic¬ 
tion of the League, and the nations will be compelled 
to abide by its decisions. 

For Articles 11 to 15: 

“Another objection brought forward by the op¬ 
ponents of the League is that Asiatic immigration, 
the policy of a protective tariff, or some other matter 
of vital domestic interest, may form a subject of 
dispute with another nation, may be brought before 
the Executive Council for inquiry and decided 
against us. It would seem to be clear that the fram¬ 
ers of the covenant did not intend to submit to the 
interference of the Council the internal affairs of the 
members of the League, and assumed that the Coun¬ 
cil would in such questions follow the recognized 
principles of international law. 

“It can hardly be supposed that England, for ex¬ 
ample, intended that any nation should be entitled, 
by raising a dispute, to ask the Council to inquire 
into the government of the natives of India, and 
make recommendations for a change; or that France 
intended to authorize an inquiry whether or not she 
was justified in repealing the Concordat with the 
Church; or that Italy contemplated a recommenda¬ 
tion on the restoration of the Temporal Power of 
the Vatican. 

“If it were not self-evident that purely internal 
affairs were intended to be left in the hands of each 


92 


THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS 


country as heretofore, the exceptional treatment of 
a couple of such subjects would prove it. Special 
provisions are made for reducing armaments and im¬ 
proving the conditions of labor—matters that would 
otherwise be regarded in international law as do¬ 
mestic concerns. It is true that there is no express 
statement in the covenant that internal affairs are 
not subject to interference by the Council, and there 
is no attempt'to define what matters are of this 
nature, but it is perfectly clear that immigration and 
tariffs are internal affairs, and if there is any seri¬ 
ous doubt on the question, there will doubtless be no 
objection to making it perfectly clear by amend¬ 
ment. ’ ’ 

A. Lawbence Lowell, Harvard. 


“If any one thing has been demonstrated by the 
great war, it is that conference and counsel between 
the leading nations is one of the most certain means 
of preventing international misunderstandings and 
of making war impossible. Heretofore such confer¬ 
ence could not be held except by the voluntary action 
of all the parties. In 1914, before Germany precipi¬ 
tated the great war, an urgent effort was made by 
Sir Edward Grey to bring about a conference of the 
powers to consider the dispute between Austria and 
Serbia. Germany refused to enter that conference. 
She had determined to bring on the war in the execu¬ 
tion of long-considered plans, and she knew that if 
she joined a conference of the powers where a full 
and frank discussion of the issues involved would be 
necessary, war would be averted and her ambitions 
would be thwarted. 

“Without going into further details about these 
admirable provisions of the covenant, it is sufficient 



WAR PREVENTING MACHINERY 


93 


to say that they postpone war until there can be a 
complete discussion of the dispute either through 
the medium of arbitration or through the processes 
of inquiry, and that after award by the arbitrators 
or a recommendation by the Council which makes the 
inquiry, neither party shall go to war until three 
months thereafter. During that time opportunity 
for mediation and conciliation is offered, and in any 
event it is provided that the parties affected will not 
go to war with any party to the dispute which com¬ 
plies with the unanimous recommendations of the 
Council or accepts award of the arbitration. ’ ’ 

William G. McAdoo, ex-Secy. Treas. 

Against Articles XI to XV. * 

“Treaties now in force between the United States 
and the most important members of the League, not 
to mention those not included in it, not only cover 
the whole ground contemplated by the arbitral pro¬ 
visions of the League, but more specifically and with 
more certainty regarding the standards of law by 
which judgment would be rendered. There is, there¬ 
fore, no advance made by this League, absolutely no 
advantage to be obtained, so far as the judicial set¬ 
tlement of international disputes is concerned. Mr. 
Root, who is the leading American authority on this 
point, has not hesitated to say of the covenant: ‘ It 
puts the whole subject of arbitration back where it 
was twenty-five years ago.’ This is a strong state¬ 
ment, but every jurist familiar with the history of 
the subject knows it is true. 

“An amendment on this subject, prepared by Mr. 
Root, was endorsed by the American Society of In¬ 
ternational Law, and other highly competent bodies 
of jurists of a non-partisan character, before it was 


94 


THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS 


sent to Paris, where it was entirely ignored. From 
this fact the inference is justified that the conference 
had no intention of placing the League on a juristic 
basis, or of accepting that basis as an aim or ideal 
to be realized in the future. On the contrary, it 
was force, not justice, which was regarded as the 
foundation of this association of great powers and 
their proteges/’ 

David Jayne Hill. 


“It is, of course, obvious that any question likely 
to lead to a rupture is a matter clearly within the 
jurisdiction of the League, and may be passed upon 
by it. With the Japanese question, as it affects the 
Pacific coast, I am reasonably familiar. I recall in 
1913, while I was governor of California, the law 
pending before our legislature for the protection of 
our agricultural lands. I remember vividly when we 
were doing that which was clearly our right to do, 
the matter became of such international importance 
that the President sent to California the Secretary 
of State, who, there for a week, endeavored to con¬ 
vince our legislature that it should not pass its alien 
land law. The law was designed to do for California 
what Japanese law was already doing for Japan. It 
is sufficient for me to say that the controversy soon 
became of more than local importance and assumed 
international proportions. If the League of Nations 
had been in existence then the question would have 
been taken from the people of the state of California, 
who alone were entitled to deal with it, and would 
have been decided not by those whose right it was 
to decide and who were most interested, hut by for¬ 
eign nations. 


Senator Johnson, California. 



WAR PREVENTING MACHINERY 


95 


Questions. 

Par. 37 to 52. Read and comment on Mr. LowelPs 
argument paragraph by paragraph. Do this also 
with Mr. McAdoo’s discussion. Are they convincing 
to you! Contrast Mr. Hill’s opinions. Find out 
about the Japanese question on our Pacific coast. 
Does Mr. Johnson’s argument strike home! As 
you read the critics of the League notice if they 
have anything constructive to offer or are they only 
objectors! Are they in your opinion generous and 
glad to have our country aid the other nations 
toward higher levels or do they take the selfish 
viewpoint of merely keeping out! 

ARTICLE XVI. 

Article XVI prescribes the penalties for nations 
that disregard their covenants under the League. 
These are, briefly, economic boycott, and armed war¬ 
fare. The champions of the covenant said it will 
rarely be necessary to use armed force, since the 
United States is perhaps the one nation in the world 
that can withstand the boycott. The article should 
be read and considered together with Article X; 
the same arguments apply for and against. The 
two Articles give the League of Nations teeth. 

53. Should any member of the League resort to 
war in disregard of its covenants under Articles 
XII, XIII or XV, it shall ipso facto be deemed to 
have committed an act of war against all other 
members of the League, which hereby undertake im¬ 
mediately to subject it to the severance of all trade 
or financial relations, the prohibition of all inter¬ 
course between their nationals and the nationals of 
the covenant-breaking state and the prevention of 
all financial, commercial or personal intercourse be- 


96 


THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS 


tiveen the nationals of the covenant-breaking state 
and the nationals of any other state, whether a mem¬ 
ber of the League or not. 

54. It shall be the duty of the Council in such case 
to recommend to the several governments concerned 
ivhat effective military or naval forces the members 
of the League shall severally contribute to the arma¬ 
ments of forces to be used to protect the covenants 
of the League. 

55. The.members of the League agree, further, 
that they will mutually support one another in the 
financial and economic measures which are taken 
under this Article, in order to minimize the loss and 
inconvenience resulting from the above measures, 
and that they will mutually support one another in 
resisting any special measures aimed at one of their 
number by the covenant-breaking state, and that 
they will take the necessary steps to afford passage 
through their territory to the forces of any of the 
members of the League which are co-operating to 
protect the covenants of the League. 

56. Any member of the League which lias vio¬ 
lated any covenant of the League may be declared 
to be no longer a member of the League by a vote 
of the Council, concurred in by the representatives 
of all the other members represented thereon. 

Questions. 

53. What effect would the cutting off of all trade 
and financial relations with a covenant-breaking 
state have? Can you illustrate by the World War? 
Take states such as Italy, Spain, Argentine and 
Japan, and show results in each case first as to trade 
and second as to finance. How long could any nation 
hold out against such a boycott ? What nation could 
likely hold out the longest? Why? 


WAR PREVENTING MACHINERY 


97 


54. According to this paragraph are nation-mem¬ 
bers forced to obey the suggestions of the Council? 

55. Discuss the effect of measures taken under 
this section. What effect would such act have upon 
the culprit? 

56. What effect would “ being in international 
disgrace” have upon a nation? Can you illustrate? 

ARTICLE XVII. 

All nations may not join the League and if those 
outside go to war it might involve the League also. 
Would it be right or wise for the League to force 
arbitration on outsiders? 

57. In the event of a dispute between a member 
of the League and a state which is not a member 
of the League, or between states not members of the 
League, the state or states not members of the 
League shall be invited to accept the obligations of 
membership in the League for the purpose of such 
dispute, upon such conditions as the Council may 
deem just. If such invitation is accepted, the pro¬ 
visions of Articles A LI to XVI, inclusive, shall be 
applied, with such modifications as may be deemed 
necessary by the Council. 

58. Upon such invitations being given the Coun¬ 
cil shall immediately institute an inquiry into the 
circumstances of the dispute, and recommend such 
action as may seem best and most effectual in the 
circumstances. 

59. If a state so invited shall refuse to accept the 
obligations of membership in the League for the pur¬ 
poses of such dispute, and shall resort to war against 
a member of the League, the provisions of Article 
XVI shall be applicable as against the state taking 
such action. 


98 


THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS 


60. If both parties to the dispute, when so in¬ 
vited, refuse to accept the obligations of member¬ 
ship in the League for the purpose of such dispute, 
the Council may take such measures and make such 
recommendations as will prevent hostilities and will 
result in the settlement of the dispute. 

Article XVII provides that nations not members 
of the League shall arbitrate their disputes. If 
they refuse, and make war, the full powers of the 
League are used against them. There was no partic¬ 
ular controversy over this Article. 

Questions. 

57 to 60. Would this Article force an opposition 
league or merely bring all states under the League 
eventually? Debate the justice of the Article. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

Treaties Under the League. 

One of the evils of the past that has been a cause 
of bitterness and of wars has been the secret agree¬ 
ments and secret treaties between nations. Should 
the League try to prevent these secret pacts f How 
can nations be compelled to divulge these secret 
plans ? 

ARTICLE XVIII. 

61. Every convention or international engage¬ 
ment entered into henceforward by any member of 
the League shall be forthwith registered with the 
Secretariat and shall, as soon as possible, be pub¬ 
lished by it. No such treaty or international engage¬ 
ment shall be binding until so registered. 

Germany had secret treaties with Turkey and Bul¬ 
garia before the war which bound them to give her 
aid and the world knew nothing about them.' 

The leaguers joyfully hail Article XVIII as the 
instrument with which secret diplomacy is to be 
abolished. The anti-leaguers do not object to the 
Article, but they claim it is too late in coming, that 
secret treaties have already, in the peace confer¬ 
ence, worked wicked injustices, which are to be per¬ 
petuated by the covenant. They point to those of 
Italy and Japan with England and France. 

For Article XVIII. 

“Another great step forward is that compelling 
open diplomacy. All treaties made between nations 
are to conform to the obligations of the members of 


100 


THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS 


the League, and future treaties are not to have effect 
until they have been recorded in the Secretariat of 
the League. In this way the cards are to be played 
face up on the table. There are to be no secret 
agreements between nations, but each nation is to 
know what the obligation of other nations is. Secret 
treaties, secret ententes, have in the past been fruit¬ 
ful of wars and international injustice. They are 
to be abolished by this League.” 

William Howard Taft. 

Against Article XVIII. 

“To the Japanese Empire * * * we turned 

over shamefully and unjustly and cruelly 40,000,000 
Chinese. To the autocracy of the Orient we deliv¬ 
ered 40,000,000 republicans of China. We made the 
Orient ‘safe for democracy’ by dismembering its 
only democracy and handing the parts to the strong¬ 
est autocracy on earth. The blackest page in all 
our history was written when our name was signed 
to the treaty delivering Shantung to Japan. It 
makes a mockery of our pretensions. * * * Under 
the League of Nations * * * we have not only 

committed the crime in the first instance, but we 
have guaranteed (Article X) the crime for all time.” 

Senator Hiram Johnson of California. 

Questions. 

61. What are the objections to secret treaties? 
Do you know whether United States has kept her 
treaties secret? . Many criticized the Paris confer¬ 
ence for working behind closed doors. What can 
you say for and against this? Head the first of 
President Wilson’s fourteen points, p. Discuss 



TREATIES UNDER THE LEAGUE 


101 


whether he kept faith. Do you think it would have 
been well for Germany to have heard all the dis¬ 
cussion at the peace conference? Give reasons. 
Discuss the quotation from Mr. Taft and Mr. John¬ 
son. With which do you agree? 

ARTICLE XIX. 

62. The Assembly may from time to time advise 
the reconsideration by members of the League of 
treaties which have become inapplicable, and the 
consideration of international conditions whose con¬ 
tinuance might endanger the peace of the world. 

Questions. 

62. There was no objection or controversy over 
this article. Give argument for and if possible 
against it. 

ARTICLE XX. 

63. The members of the League severally agree 
that this covenant is accepted as abrogating all obli¬ 
gations or understandings inter se which are incon¬ 
sistent with the terms thereof, and solemnly under¬ 
take that they will not hereafter enter into any en¬ 
gagements inconsistent with the terms thereof. 

64. In case members of the League shall, before 
becoming a member of the League, have undertaken 
any obligations inconsistent with the terms of this 
covenant, it shall be the duty of such member to take 
immediate steps to procure its release from such 
obligations. 

Questions. 

63. Explain this paragraph. What obligations 
or understandings are meant ? 


CHAPTER XIV. 


The Monroe Doctrine. 

The United States is very sensitive about the 
Monroe Doctrine. Several times we have threatened 
to go to war to defend it. In each case the threat 
was sufficient. Yet other nations had not admitted 
that they were in any way hound to respect it. Pub¬ 
lic opinion here convinced President Wilson that 
this doctrine should he specifically excluded from 
the League’s jurisdiction. So at his suggestion 
Article XXI was written into the covenant. 

ARTICLE XXI. 

65. Nothing in this covenant shall he deemed to 
affect the validity of international agreements such 
as treaties of arbitration or regional understand¬ 
ings like the Monroe Doctrine for securing the main¬ 
tenance of peace . 

Articles XX and XXI came under heavy fire, and 
were as hotly defended. 

The friends of the covenant claimed the provisions 
of the Articles amply protect the Monroe Doctrine. 
The enemies declared the wording of Article XXI 
is misleading, and that, in fact, the Monroe Doctrine 
is surrendered to the Council to administer by the 
terms of the covenant. 

For Article XXI. 

“The objections made by Mr. Taft, Senator 
Lodge, Justice Hughes, and others, that the pro¬ 
posed covenant would destroy or impair the Monroe 


THE MONROE DOCTRINE 


103 


Doctrine, liave been met by tbe provision in Article 
XXI, which expressly excludes the Monroe Doc¬ 
trine from affect by the revised covenant. It is true 
that the characterization of the Monroe Doctrine has 
met with no unjustifiable criticism. ‘ Regional under¬ 
standings for the securing and maintenance of 
peace,’ is hardly an apt description of the Monroe 
policy, adopted by the United States as a national 
policy for its own protection; and yet, in a certain 
sense, it is assuredly a policy adopted to secure the 
maintenance of peace, and it is ‘ regional understand¬ 
ing’ in the sense that it is an understanding that the 
United States has declared that the entire region 
of the American hemisphere is not to be the planting 
ground for monarchical institutions.” 

George W. Wickeesham, ex-Atty.-Gen. 


“It is asserted that this Article does not ade¬ 
quately reserve the Monroe Doctrine because it is 
not a ‘regional understanding’ and its purpose is 
not the ‘maintenance of peace.’ It is also objected 
that, although the Monroe Doctrine is a national 
policy, any dispute concerning its reservation in 
Article XXI shall be submitted to the League for 
arbitration or examination under Articles XIII or 
XV. The reason for these objections disappears 
upon an examination of the general purpose of the 
League, and the character and effect of the Monroe 
Doctrine. * * * 

“* # * Probably the draftsmen of Article XXI, 
the majority of whom were European statesmen, 
thought it unwise to attempt to formulate a defini¬ 
tion of an American political policy, concerning the 
limitations -of which American statesmen have not 
always themselves agreed. But the important thing 



104 


THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS 


is that the Monroe Doctrine is declared to be ‘ valid,’ 
thus rendering its continued existence unaffected by 
the covenant. * * * ” 

William Howard Taft. 


“The document itself (the covenant), as Mr. Wil¬ 
son said some time ago, includes the real Monroe 
Doctrine. It extends it over the whole world. * * * 
It (the Monroe Doctrine) means nothing except that 
no autocratic government is to extend its power 
over American states. The League of Nations as¬ 
serts that autocratic rule shall no longer exist on 
any continent. * # *” 

David Starr Jordan. 

Against. 

“The Monroe Doctrine is not an ‘international 
engagement,’ it is not a ‘treaty of arbitration,’ and 
it is not a ‘ regional understanding. ’ Even if it were, 
this curiously worded phrase recognizes the validity 
not of the Monroe Doctrine itself, but only of ‘en¬ 
gagements,’ ‘treaties’ and ‘understandings’ which 
resemble it. So far from reserving for our own 
determination this national policy, the covenant 
tosses it into the air and vests the power of decision 
of any dispute over it in the ‘other powers’ com¬ 
prising the League.” 

George Harvey, N. A. Review. 

Mr. Root said the clause which was inserted re¬ 
garding the Monroe Doctrine is erroneous in the 
description of the Doctrine and ambiguous in mean¬ 
ing. He pointed out other purely American ques¬ 
tions, as, for example, questions relating to immi¬ 
gration, are protected only by a clause which appears 



THE MONROE DOCTRINE 


105 


to give tlie Council power to determine whether or 
not such questions are solely within the jurisdiction 
of the United States. Mr. Root did not think that 
in these respects the United States was sufficiently 
protected. He thought that only the United States 
and not the League should decide when the Monroe 
Doctrine and other similar questions are in danger. 

Questions. 

65. Look up the Monroe Doctrine. Try to define 
it briefly. Do you think those who wrote Article 
XXI meant to be fair? In case of disagreement 
over the Monroe Doctrine who will likely settle it? 
Read and discuss the questions given under this 
Article. 


> CHAPTER XV. 

How Backward Nations Are Governed. 

Germany liacl misruled her colonies and there was 
no thought of returning them to her. They are 
backward peoples not yet ready to rule themselves. 
Germany was never a success in ruling and develop¬ 
ing her overseas colonies. She was jealous of Eng¬ 
land because the latter held the loyalty and allegi¬ 
ance of some of the best parts of the earth. The 
record of the Germans in dealing with the South 
African natives shows cruelty, oppression and bad 
faith. Rebellion in some instances was put down 
with wholesale massacre. The peoples of German 
Southwest Africa and German East Africa unani¬ 
mously objected to returning to German rule. More¬ 
over Germany had used her colonies chiefly as 
points of vantage to reach her enemies. Her ocean 
empire was the third in extent in the world and was 
distributed throughout the entire world. Wherever 
there was a piece of land capable of being colonized 
by Europeans there was always a German province. 

The disposition to be made of the former German 
colonies was decided at the peace conference in 
Paris on May 6, 1919, by the Council of Three— 
M. Clemenceau, President Wilson and Mr. Lloyd 
George. All colonies are to be ruled under mandates 
from the League of Nations. The two greatest Ger¬ 
man possessions in Africa are assigned to British 
rule, and the other two are to be divided between 
Great Britain and France under an arrangement 
to be settled upon by those two countries. Japan 
gets the mandate for all the German islands in the 


HOW BACKWARD NATIONS ARE GOVERNED 


107 


Pacific north of the equator, and most of those south 
of the equator are to be divided between Australia 
and New Zealand. The official statement in detail 
is as follows: 

Togoland and Kamerun.—France and Great Brit¬ 
ain shall make a joint recommendation to the League 
of Nations as to their future. 

German East Africa.—The mandate shall be held 
by Great Britain. 

German Southwest Africa.—The mandate shall be 
held by the Union of South Africa. 

The German Samoan Islands.—The mandate shall 
be held by New Zealand. 

The other German Pacific possessions south of 
the equator, excluding the German Samoan Islands 
and Nauru.—The mandate shall be held by Aus¬ 
tralia. 

Nauru (Pleasant Island).—The mandate shall be 
given to the British Empire. 

The German Pacific islands north of the equator. 
—The mandate shall be held by Japan. 

APtTICLE XXII. 

66. To those colonies and territories which, as a 
consequence of the late war, have ceased to he under 
the sovereignty of the states which formerly gov¬ 
erned them and which are inhabited by peoples not 
yet able to stand by themselves under the strenuous 
conditions of the modern world, there should be ap¬ 
plied the principle that the well-being and develop¬ 
ment of such peoples form a sacred trust of civiliza¬ 
tion and that securities for the performance of this 
trust should be embodied in this covenant. 

67. The best method of giving practicable effect 
to this principle is that the tutelage of such peoples 




108 


THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS 


be entrusted to advanced nations, who, by reasons 
of their resources, their experiences or their geo¬ 
graphical position, can best undertake this responsi¬ 
bility and who are willing to accept it, and that this 
tutelage should be exercised by them as mandatories 
on behalf of the League. 

68. The character of the mandate must differ ac¬ 
cording to the stage of the development of the peo¬ 
ple, the geographical situation of the territory, its 
economic condition and other similar circumstances. 

69. Certain communities formerly belonging to 
the Turkish Empire have reached a stage of develop¬ 
ment where their existence as independent nations 
can be provisionally recognized subject to the ren¬ 
dering of administrative advice and assistance by a 
mandatory until such time as they are able to stand 
alone. The wishes of these communities must be a 
principal consideration in the selection of the man¬ 
datory. 

70. Other peoples, especially those of Central 
Africa, are at such a, stage that the mandatory must 
be responsible for the administration of the terri¬ 
tory under conditions which will guarantee freedom 
of conscience or religion, subject only to the main¬ 
tenance of public order and morals, the prohibition 
of abuses such as the slave trade, the arms traffic 
and the liquor traffic, and the prevention of the 
establishment of fortifications or military and naval 
bases and of military training of the natives for 
other than police purposes and the defense of terri¬ 
tory, and will also secure equal opportunities for the 
trade and commerce of other members of the League. 

71. There are territories, such as Southwest 
Africa and certain of the South Pacific Islands, 
which, owing to the sparseness of their population 


HOW BACKWARD NATIONS ARE GOVERNED 109 

or tlieir small size or their remoteness from the cen¬ 
ters of civilization or their geographical contiguity 
to the territory of the mandatory and other circum¬ 
stances, can be best administered under the laws of 
the mandatory as integral portions of its territory 
subject to the safeguards above mentioned in the 
interests of the indigenous population. 

In every case of mandate, the mandatory shall 
render to the Council an annual report in reference 
to the territory committed to its charge. 

72. The degree of authority, control or adminis¬ 
tration to be exercised by the mandatory shall, if 
not previously agreed upon by the members of the 
League, be explicitly defined in each case by the 
Council. 

73. A permanent commission shall be constituted 
to receive and examine the annual reports of the 
mandatories and to advise the Council on all matters 
relating to the observance of the mandates. 

“Our view is that the present League of Nations 
may become a device for enabling England and other 
empires to exploit small and weak peoples under 
the mandatory power without the risk and cost of 
war. ’ ’ The Nation. 

Questions. 

Par. 66 to 73. Read the discussion preceding these 
sections and that on p. ... regarding German col¬ 
onies. Would it have been wise or right to return 
these colonies ? If they were not to be returned how 
would you have disposed of them? Would it have 
been wise to have set them all free? Why or why 
not? Would you have been in favor of United States 
accepting mandatory over them? Give reason for 
your answer. What do you think of The Nation’s 
criticism? 


CHAPTER XVI. 

Labor and Other Bureaus. 

ARTICLE XXIII. 

74. Subject to and in accordance with the pro¬ 
visions of international conventions existing, or 
hereafter to be agreed upon, the members of the 
League 

(a) will endeavor to secure and maintain fair and 
humane conditions of labor for men, women and chil¬ 
dren, both in their own countries and in all countries 
to which their commercial and industrial relations 
extend, and for that purpose will establish and main¬ 
tain the necessary international organizations; 

(b) undertake to secure just treatment of the 
native inhabitants of territories under their control; 

(c) will entrust the League with the general su¬ 
pervision over the execution of agreements with re¬ 
gard to the traffic in women and children, and the 
traffic in opium and other dangerous drugs; 

(d) will entrust the League with the general su¬ 
pervision of the trade in arms and ammunition with 
the countries in which the control of this traffic is 
necessary in the common interest; 

(e) will make provision to secure and maintain 
freedom of communication and of transit and equit¬ 
able treatment for the commerce of all members of 
the League. In this connection the special necessities 
of the regions devastated during the tear of 1914- 
1918 shall be im mind; 


LABOR AND OTHER BUREAUS 111 

(/) will endeavor to take steps in matters of in¬ 
ternational concern for the prevention and control 
of disease. 

“The rank and file of laborers in America is for 
peace and ought to approve the League of Nations. 
For the first time in the history of mankind there is 
offered to us an instrument to prevent war. 

The League of Nations in its present form is not 
a perfect document. Yet it will improve conditions. 
It is the foundation upon which we may hope to 
build until we can realize our hopes. It is the most 
stupendous task in the history of the world to com¬ 
pose the differences between so many different na¬ 
tions. 

Labor has always pleaded for peace—labor has 
always opposed war. When I stood at Chateau 
Thierry and saw the little mounds above our Ameri¬ 
can boys sleeping there I hated war worse than ever 
before and I would be false to all my interests and 
the interests of the laboring people if I failed to 
support the only remedy offered us after this awful 
war. 

The international labor convention set up by the 
League machinery has neither legislative power nor 
administrative power. There is set up a clearing 
house to which representatives of labor from all the 
nations that are parties to the covenant may come 
and then consider what things are best for the labor 
of the world and agree upon them if possible and 
recommend them to every nation for favorable con- 
sideration. The nations may accept or reject them 
all as they choose. Instead of being a super-legis¬ 
lative body or an instrument of possible oppres¬ 
sion it is going to be the greatest international force 


112 


THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS 


for the promotion of the fundamental things for 
which labor stands that has been created in a cen¬ 
tury. ’ ’ 

Samuel Gompers. 


‘ ‘ The question of labor should be settled by the in- 
dividual nations. It is a domestic policy. It is not 
an international matter of concern at all. It was put 
into that treaty in order to pacify labor. It is noth¬ 
ing more than a political trick. 

“I am not saying anything against labor. I am in 
favor and approve of the labor principles that are 
embodied in that treaty as principles per se. I think 
they are eminently just and proper and that they 
ought to be adopted by all the nations of the world. 
But they constitute domestic policy and not inter¬ 
national concern. The conditions in the several 
countries differ so much that what might apply to 
one might not apply to another; and each country 
should be allowed to work out its own internal sal¬ 
vation, including labor questions.” 

C. H. Rowell. 


Questions. 

74. Does Mr. Gompers present any new view¬ 
points? Is war a good thing for the laborer? Why 
or why not? Cite the recent war in proof of your 
stand. 

What do you thing of Mr. Rowell’s objections? Is 
it any of our business how labor is treated in Eng¬ 
land, Germany or Japan. Why? If foreign labor 
works long hours with low pay can those countries 
undersell United States with short hours and high 
pay, in the world markets ? 



LABOR AND OTHER BUREAUS 


113 


ARTICLE XXIV. 

75. There shall be placed under the direction of 
the League all international bureaus already estab¬ 
lished by general treaties if the parties to such trea¬ 
ties consent. All such international bureaus and all 
commissions for the regulation of matters of inter¬ 
national interest hereafter constituted shall be 
placed under the direction of the League. 

76. In all matters of internatimial interest which 
are regulated by general conventions, but which are 
not placed under the control of international bureaus 
or commissions, the Secretariat of the League shall, 
subject to the consent of the Council and if desired 
by the parties collect and distribute all relevant in¬ 
formation and shall render any other assistance 
which may be necessary or desirable. 

77. The Council may include as part of the ex¬ 
penses of the Secretariat the expenses of any bureau 
or commission which is placed under the direction of 
the League. 

There was no controversy over Article 24, which 
provides that all existing international bureaus he 
placed under control of the League. 


ARTICLE XXY. 

78. The members of the League agree to encour¬ 
age and promote the establishment and co-operation 
of duly authorized voluntary national Red Cross or¬ 
ganizations having as purposes improvement of 
health, the prevention of disease and the mitigation 
of suffering throughout the world. 


114 


THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS 


ARTICLE XXVI. 

79. Amendments to this covenant will take effect 
when ratified by the members of the League whose 
representatives compose the Council and by a major¬ 
ity of the members of the League whose representa¬ 
tives compose the Assembly. 

80. No such an amendment shall bind any member 
of the League which signifies its dissent therefrom, 
but in that case it shall cease to be a member of the 
League. 

“The covenant can not be amended without the 
unanimous consent of the Council. None of the Big 
Five can ever be ousted from the Council. The As¬ 
sembly can never overrule the Council. Practically 
nothing can ever be done without the unanimous con¬ 
sent of the Council. Any reform or other generous 
undertaking can be blocked forever by a single mem¬ 
ber of the Council. The covenant of the League of 
Nations makes the world safe from democracy.” 

Questions. 

79. Compare this section with similar provisions 
in our Constitution. In your Legislature. What do 
you think of the critic we have quoted? Is his point 
well taken? Is it a point of weakness or strength to 
require unanimous vote in the Council? Why was 
this unanimous consent written into the covenant, in 
your opinion? 

ANNEX TO COVENANT. 

81. Original members of the League of Nations 
signatories of the Treaty of Peace: 

The United States of America, Belgium, Bolivia, 
Brazil, British Empire, Canada, Australia, South 


LABOR AND OTHER BUREAUS 


115 


Africa, New Zealand, India, China, Cuba, Czecho¬ 
slovakia, Ecuador, France, Greece, Gautemala, 
Haiti, Hedjaz, Honduras, Italy, Japan, Liberia, Nic¬ 
aragua, Panama, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Rumania, 
Jugo-Slavia, Siam and Uruguay. 

82. States invited to accede to the covenant: 

Argentine Republic, Chile, Colombia, Denmark, 

Netherlands, Norway, Paraguay, Persia, Salvador, 
Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Venezuela. 

83. First Secretary-General of the League of Na¬ 
tions, Sir James Eric Drummond. 

Conclusion For. 

“The united powers of free nations must put a 
stop to aggression, and the world must he given 
peace. If there is not the will and intelligence to 
accomplish that now there must be another and a 
final war, and the world must be swept clean of every 
power that could renew the terror. The League of 
Nations is not merely an instrument to adjust and 
remedy old wrongs under a new reality of peace; it 
is the only hope for mankind. Again and again 
has the demon of war been cast out of the house of 
the peoples, and the house swept clean by a treaty 
of peace, only to prepare a time when he would enter 
again with spirits worse than himself. 

“The house must not be given a tenant who can 
hold it against all such. Convenient, indeed, indis¬ 
pensable, as statesmen found! the newly planned 
League of Nations to he for the execution of present 
plans of peace and reparation, they saw it in a new 
aspect before their work was finished. They saw it 
as the main object of the peace, as the only thing 
that could complete it or make it worth while. They 


116 


THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS 


saw it as the hope of the world, and that hope they 
did not dare to disappoint. Shall we, or any other 
free people, hesitate to accept this great duty? 
Dare we reject it and break the heart of the world V’ 

President Wilson. 

Conclusion Against. 

“If those who wrote this document really wanted 
to prevent war they would have permitted the men 
and women who must bear the burdens of war to de¬ 
termine by their votes whether or not there should 
be war. * * * If every nation agreed to a referen¬ 
dum to its people before a declaration of war, peo¬ 
ples, instead of rulers, humanity, instead of power, 
would decide whether wars should be fought, and 
only in the rarest instances would there ever be war. 
Such wars would be peoples’ wars. Upon what 
theory do the gentlemen at Paris prate of self-deter¬ 
mination, the rights of peoples, recognize the refer¬ 
endum in matters of intimate concern to peoples in 
small and isolated communities, and deny the right 
when the decision means the very life of human 
beings? The answer is that this is not a League to 
promote peace, but to protect power. Those who 
advocate it dare not amend it so that the issue of 
war shall be made by the men and women who must 
light and die for it. 

“In a word, this League means that American 
boys shall police the world; that all the tottering 
nations of the earth shall be upheld by our blood and 
bone * * * that our nation will be at the mercy 
of European and Japanese diplomats who never had, 
and never will have, any sympathy with our aspira¬ 
tions or our ideals; that we, with our glorious past, 


LABOR AND OTHER BUREAUS 


117 


0 

shall guarantee the territorial integrity of every 
nation on earth and the bondage of every people in 
anguish begging for freedom; that we destroy our 
Monroe Doctrine and submit controversies on the 
American Hemisphere to determination by foreign 
powers. * * * The issue is America. And I am 
an American.” Senator Hiram Johnson. 

Questions. 

81 to 83. Have you any comment on these three 
paragraphs? Discuss Mr. Wilson’s plea. Does it 
impress you? What can you say for Mr. Johnson’s 
stand? Are you in favor of the League? Debate 
the question. 


CHAPTER XVII. 


Benjamin Feanklin (if he were living today) on 

the League of Nations. 

When the convention that met in 1787 to form onr 
Constitution had worked and contended for months 
to frame a strong and satisfactory government to re¬ 
place the weak and hopeless Articles of Confedera¬ 
tion, and when they had tried in vain by persuasion 
and compromise, to get the delegates to agree and 
sign unanimously so that the constitution could go 
before the states with the united backing of the con¬ 
vention, it became evident that many patriotic mem¬ 
bers would refuse their signatures. Then arose 
Benjamin Franklin, an aged and a wise statesman, 
to make this splendid plea to his fellow delegates. 
In reading his address let us substitute the League 
of Nations for Constitution wherever it occurs. 

“Mr. President: I confess that there are several 
parts of this Constitution which I do not at present 
approve, but I am not sure I shall never approve 
them. For, having lived long, I have experienced 
many instances of being obliged, after better in¬ 
formation or fuller consideration, to change opin¬ 
ions, even on important subjects, which I once 
thought right, but found to be otherwise. It is 
therefore that, the older I grow, the more apt I am 
to doubt my own judgment, and to pay more respect 
to the judgment of others. 

“In these sentiments, sir, I agree to this Consti¬ 
tution, with all its faults, if there are such; because 
I think a general government necessary for us, and 


BENJAMIN FRANKLIN ON LEAGUE OF NATIONS 119 


there is no form of government, but wliat may be a 
blessing to the people if well administered;—I doubt, 
too, whether any other Convention we can obtain 
may' be able to make a better Constitution. For, 
when you assemble a number of men to have advan¬ 
tage of their joint wisdom, you inevitably assemble 
with those men all their prejudices, their passions, 
their errors of opinion, their local interests, and 
their selfish views. From such an assembly can a 
perfect production be expected? It therefore as¬ 
tonishes me, sir, to find this system approaching so 
near to perfection as it does; and I think it will 
astonish our enemies, who are waiting with con¬ 
fidence to hear that our councils are confounded, 
like those of the builders of Babel; and that our 
states are on the point of separation, only to meet 
hereafter for the purpose of cutting one another’s 
throats. Thus I consent, sir, to this Constitution, 
because I expect no better, and because I am not 
sure that it is not the best. The opinions I have had 
of its errors I sacrifice to the public good. I have 
never whispered a syllable of them abroad. Within 
these walls they were born, and here they shall die. 
If every one of us, in returning to our constituents, 
were to report the objections he has had to it, and 
endeavor to gain partisans in support of them, we 
might prevent its being generally received, and 
thereby lose all the salutary and great advantages 
naturally in our favor among foreign nations, as 
well as among ourselves, from our real or apparent 
unanimity. Much of the strength and efficiency of 
any government, in procuring and securing happi¬ 
ness to the people, depends on opinion—on the gen¬ 
eral opinion of the goodness of the government, as 
well as of the wisdom and integrity of its governors. 


120 


THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS 


I hope, therefore, that for our own sakes, as a part 
of the people, and for the sake of posterity, we shall 
act heartily and unanimously in recommending this 
Constitution (if approved by Congress and con¬ 
firmed by the Convention) wherever our influence 
may extend, and turn our future thoughts and en¬ 
deavors to the means of having it well administered. 

On the whole, sir, I cannot help expressing a wish 
that every member of the Convention, who may still 
have objections to it, would with me, on this occasion, 
doubt a little of his own infallibility, and, to make 
manifest our unanimity, put his name to this instru¬ 
ment. ’ ’ Benjamin Franklin. 


CHAPTER XVIII. 


Will the Covenant Hold? 

Some Americans are opposed to the League. They 
object because of certain failures in it to secure self- 
determination of peoples, or because it is over severe 
towards the people of Germany, or because it has not 
quite ended imperialism. They object to it because 
it is imperfect from their various viewpoints. They 
say it ought not to be ratified because it does not 
make the world safe either for democracy or for 
peace. In looking at things which it does not do, or 
which it fails to do, they lose sight of what it does. 

What is the one thing of surpassing importance 
which the League does? It sets up a mechanism, 
seemingly powerful, for preserving the peace of the 
world, and for restoring it; a peace under which 
democratic movements may go forward toward suc¬ 
cess. Of course it does not make the world forever 
safe for democracy. Nothing can do that except an 
enlightened and eternal vigilance in every nation and 
in every age. The moment any people reaches the 
point where it feels that it does not need to fight for 
democracy, that moment its democracy is in danger, 
no matter what its institutions may be. Rome fell 
because her citizens were no longer willing to fight 
for her. 

Neither does the treaty make the world certain of 
permanent peace. Nothing can do that. But the ab¬ 
sence of some such collective covenant as the League 
seems to make war certain just as soon as the ex¬ 
hausted nations have caught their breath. The 


122 


THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS 


A 

League is tlie best effort that the wearied, exhausted, 
maddened peoples of the world are now capable of 
making for the preservation of peace. The great 
task that was undertaken under the treaty was the 
erection of a bulwark against war. This bulwark 
may not hold, but it is the only hope in sight. 

Enforcing International Law. 

The League will fail unless the states in it shoulder 
the obligation of enforcing International Law. They 
must not only obey its rules themselves but they 
must be willing to force unwilling states to do the 
same. There are economic and social means of 
bringing pressure to bear and we may confidently 
hope that a resort to armed force will be rarely if 
ever required. 

Raw materials including staple foods have become 
the chief bone of contention among all nations. 
Statesmen and governments are scrambling and bid¬ 
ding for these necessities. If the League should 
gain a worldwide control over the flow of raw ma¬ 
terials across frontiers it would win to its support 
every civilized state. With the power to stop this 
supply of iron, copper, cotton, rubber, wool, oil and 
grain the League would have a power at its com¬ 
mand that every state must dread. This is, many 
believe, the key to the maintenance of the League. It 
is hoped that in time the League shall be looked upon 
by all nations as the source which guarantees to all 
the world its regular supply of these essential things. 
If so the League will build up for itself a loyalty 
which would never be earned by a mere international 
police court. It would be interesting as a compari¬ 
son here to look up the results of Alexander Hamil¬ 
ton’s policy of assumption of state debts. 


WILL THE COVENANT HOLD? 


123 


But there must be force behind the League because 
without it and the fixed intention of using it in the 
last resort all other means of keeping the League 
intact will he valueless. One should read again as a 
comparison AY ashington’s methods of dealing with 
the AVhiskey Rebellion and its result. A powerful 
and unscrupulous state by using its own forces could 
overturn the League or render its laws null and of 
no effect. 

“When I differ from a fellow-citizen and go to 
law with him, I accept the decision of the Judge. 
AAdiy? Because I think the Judge was right? Cer¬ 
tainly not; but because / know that the Judge has a 
constable standing behind him who will drag me off 
and shut me up if I continue to struggle for what I 
still believe to be my rights.” 

We must take care for the enforcement of the 
rules of the League by all the might of its members. 
Any force placed at the disposal of the League shall 
be sufficient for the purposes in view. This means 
that no member should be permitted to amass arma¬ 
ments at its own will and pleasure and that a pro¬ 
portional reduction of present armaments should 
take place as soon as possible. Entire disarmament 
is not desirable even if it were possible. Each state 
will require a force to cope with internal disorders 
and those whose frontiers are bordering upon peo¬ 
ples too barbarous to be members of the League will 
need protection against their inroads. 

At sea also trade will ask for nrotection. Pirates 
understand no argument but that of force. How to 
bring about proportional reduction of armaments is 
one of the most difficult of all the problems that 


124 


THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS 


awaits solution if the world is to be organized for 
peace and not for war. 

The League will fail ultimately if the covenant is 
too rigid. It should be loose enough to allow it to 
grow. It should guide and even impose change when 
change is due. The covenant should not attempt to 
provide beforehand for every problem that may 
arise. That is not the way great contributions to 
human progress in the sphere of government are 
made. The British Constitution is an evolution, a 
growth, a gradually changing instrument as the 
years come and go to meet the new situations that 
arise. 

Even the Constitution of the United States has 
received several amendments and no doubt will re¬ 
ceive in due time many more. It has also been modi¬ 
fied by political custom, as for instance, with regard 
to the election of the President, for the makers of 
our Constitution meant to leave the Electoral Col¬ 
lege free to choose whomever it wished as President. 

The covenant is ridiculously weak, almost as weak 
as were the Articles of Confederation that were the 
foundation of this nation, but just as essential to the 
future stability of the world as those weak begin¬ 
nings were then. If we do not start now, we will 
never start again until after the next world war; 
and how much of the world will be left alive after 
the next world war when for fifty years scientists 
have spent their lives inventing new ways of slaugh¬ 
tering populations? It is at least worth starting, and 
this is the only start we can get. 

That the covenant will be incomplete and experi¬ 
mental, ought to be evident to everyone who will 
recall the history of our own country. First we had 


WILL THE COVENANT HOLD? 125 

a temporary military alliance with France. Then we 
had the articles of Confederation—confessedly a 
failure—and yet an absolutely necessary step, and 
the only step we could have then taken toward the 
hnal solution. Finally we had a Constitution of the 
United States, a document unanimously declared un¬ 
satisfactory by those who wrote it and by those who 
ratified it, a document which perpetuated for a whole 
generation the iniquity of the slave trade, and which 
evaded, because it did not dare meet the question 
which we finally were only able to settle by a terrible 
war. Even the advocates of the Constitution de¬ 
fended it only as the best compromise that could be 
agreed upon. Its opponents made against it the same 
speeches on behalf of the threatened sovereignty of 
the Commonwealths of the Confederation that were 
made on behalf of the threatened sovereignty of the 
United States in the League. 

So we hope the League of Nations will grow as 
new problems arise. Its chief aim is to deliver 
humanity from the scourge of war, or at least to 
diminish its frequency and its terrors. If it succeeds 
in doing this to any considerable extent it will be¬ 
come so precious to the Nations that they will not 
permit it to be overthrown by any of the dangers that 
will undoubtedly beset its path. The covenant of the 
League must expand and change as new problems 
are encountered. That the treaty is imperfect we 
must attribute to the imperfections of man, and the 
agony of spirit in which the work was done. To make 
a treaty among twenty-three nations whose aims con¬ 
flict and satisfy all was utterly impossible. That it 
is as good as it is will likely one day be regarded as 
a miracle. It sets up the first great co-operating 
force ever organized in world affairs. It has better 


126 


THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS 


than an even chance to end war for a generation; 
and when the art of doing this is once learned it will 
be practiced. The treaty has therefore a chance, more 
or less great, of ending war forever. It is perhaps 
the only agency by which Caucasian civilization can 
save itself. 

The League of Nations demands from us nothing 
less than that we give up the old habit of interna¬ 
tional rivalry and ascend to the higher ideal of co¬ 
operation. The future of the League depends even 
more upon the atmosphere of confidence and good 
will among the nations toward the League than upon 
the plan of its government. 


PART III. 


NEW NATIONAL BOUNDARIES. 

CHAPTER XIX. 

Germany’s West Boundary. 

Reduced Territory and Population of Germany. 

Before the war Germany was smaller than Texas 
with about two-thirds the population of the United 
States. According to the Peace Treaty Germany’s 
losses in territory and population were heavy. To 
France was returned Alsace and Lorraine which con¬ 
tains 1,874,000 people. The Saar Coal Basin which 
goes to the League of Nations has 234,000 inhabit¬ 
ants. Part of Schleswig passes to Denmark with 
694,000 citizens, while Posen and part of Silesia are 
ceded to Poland and Danzig to the League of Na¬ 
tions with eight and a half millions of inhabitants, 
a tract goes to Belgium with 119,000. The pre- 
War population was practically sixty-five millions, 
while it is now reduced to fifty-three and a half mil¬ 
lions of people. 

According to the treaty Germany ceded to France, 
Alsace-Lorraine, 5,600 square miles, in the south¬ 
west, and to Belgium two small districts between 
Luxemburg and Holland totaling 382 square miles. 
She also ceded to Poland the southeastern tip of 
Silesia beyond and including Oppeln, most of Posen 
and West Prussia, 21,686 square miles, East Prussia 
being isolated from the main body by a part of Po- 


INTERNATIONAL 




* 



THE NEW MAP OF GERMANY 
























GERMANY’S WEST BOUNDARIES 


129 


land. She lost sovereignty over the northeastern- 
most tip of East Prussia, 40 square miles north of 
the River Memel, and the internationalized areas 
about Danzig, 729 square miles, and the basin of the 
Saar, 738 square miles, between the western border 
of the Rhenish Palatinate of Bavaria and the south¬ 
east corner of Luxemburg. The Danzig area con¬ 
sists of the V between^ the Nogat and Vistula rivers 
made a W by the addition of a similar V on the west, 
including the city of Danzig. The southeastern third 
of East Prussia and the area between East Prussia 
and the Vistula, was to have its nationality deter¬ 
mined by a popular vote, 5,785 square miles, as was 
to be the case in part of Schleswig, 2,787 square 
miles. 

The territory of the German Empire before the 
war was 210,260 square miles. After the war it was 
reduced to 170,826 square miles. 

Belgium’s New Boundary. 

Belgium has an area about like Maryland with a 
population of seven millions speaking French and 
Flemish. No other country in Europe was so dense¬ 
ly populated. Belgium seceded from The Nether¬ 
lands in 1830. The neutrality of the new state was 
guaranteed by the Treaty of London, 1831 and 
signed by Austria, Russia, France, Great Britain 

and Prussia. 

Belgium asked at the Peace Conference that she 
be given absolute sovereignty and free access to her 
port Antwerp, which is by the Scheldt River. As 
this river flows to the sea through Holland that coun¬ 
try might hamper Belgium’s trade. She demanded 


130 


THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS 


from Germany the return of all art objects, cash, 
machinery, raw material and manufactured goods 
destroyed -by her. The neutral part of Moresnet 
goes to Belgium, the rest to Germany. Malmedy 
and Eupen were allowed to decide their allegiance 
by popular vote. A small forested area was ceded 
to Belgium to furnish her with part of the timber 
which was purposely destroyed by the German 
army. A commission is to settle the details of the 
frontier and various regulations for change of na¬ 
tionality are laid down. Belgium is to receive from 
Germany an indemnity which is to be determined by 
a Reparations Commission. 

Luxemburg. 

Luxemburg is at the point where Germany, Bel¬ 
gium and France come together. The area is nearly a 
thousand square miles. Her fertile lower district 
lies in the basin of the Moselle, which forms the 
eastern boundary. Agriculture and fruit growing 
are occupations. Nearly a hundred mines with 
foundries and steel mills furnish a living to many 
people. 

When Belgium became an independent Kingdom 
(1831) Luxemburg was divided between it and Hol¬ 
land. The city of Luxemburg, given to Holland, 
with territory adjoining, later became neutral terri¬ 
tory or an independent Grand Duchy. In the be¬ 
ginning of the War the German troops violated the 
neutrality of Luxemburg. They occupied the coun¬ 
try and shut it off from the world by the strict cen¬ 
soring of letters and telegrams. The iron and steel 
mills were used in making German ammunitions. 
Luxemburg petitioned the Peace Conference for 


GERMANY’S WEST BOUNDARIES 131 

complete autonomy and a place in the League of 
Nations. 

According to the treaty Germany renounced her 
various ^treaties and conventions with the Grand 
Duchy of Luxemburg, and agreed to accept any ar¬ 
rangement agreed upon by the allied and associated 
powers with regard to it. 

The East Bank of the Rhine. 

The Rhine River is the national river of Germany. 
The people look upon it as the symbol of thier na¬ 
tional existence and strength. Along its banks are 
the great manufacturing districts of the Fatherland, 
while the river carries a large part of their com¬ 
merce. 

In the middle ages, the Rhine from Basel to the 
Holland was under German rule, but in 1648 at the 
close of the Thirty Years’ War, France gained a 
slight foothold on its west bank. Alsace and Lor¬ 
raine have since clung to France. 

France would like a safe and natural boundary to 
help her protect herself from Germany and the 
Rhine would furnish this safe boundary but that 
would put a purely German population under France 
and be a certain cause of future wars. 

In order that Germany shall not take advantage 
of the Rhine as a preparation for another war on 
France, the Treaty provides that Germany will not 

maintain anv fortifications or armed forces less than 

«/ 

50 kilometers to the east of the Rhine, hold any 
maneuvers, nor maintain any works to facilitate mo¬ 
bilization. In case of violation, she shall be re¬ 
garded as committing a hostile act against the 
powers who sign the present treaty and as intending 


132 


THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS 


to disturb the peace of the world. By virtue of 
the present treaty Germany shall be bound to re¬ 
spond to any request for an explanation which the 
council of the League of Nations may think it is 
necessary to address to her. 

Alsace-Lorraine. 

The allegiance of Alsace and Lorraine, the dis¬ 
puted territories on the boundary between France 
and Germany, had been unsettled since the Franco- 
German War of 1870. The people of Alsace speak 
mainly German and at one time Alsace was one of 
the strong states of the German nation, but the peo¬ 
ple were democratic and after the French Revolution 
they adopted the ideas of democratic France and 
longed to throw off the shackles of autocratic Ger¬ 
many. Many of them sent their sons to France to 
escape compulsory army service in Germany. 

In Lorraine the majority of the people speak 
French and Germany had no claim either in history 
or language to this country. But she did have use 
for the valuable iron mines of Lorraine, which fur¬ 
nished her with material for ammunition and artil¬ 
lery in the World War. 

When War broke out between France and Prussia 
in 1870, the people of Alsace who did not side with 
France, remained neutral, while some of the most 
decisive battles were fought in Lorraine. However, 
Bismarck’s victory enabled Germany to seize Al¬ 
sace-Lorraine and an effort was made to thoroughly 
Germanize the inhabitants. The clergy and upper 
classes were French and there was much hostility to 
German rule. 


GERMANY’S WEST BOUNDARIES 133 

4 

In 1872 Germany called upon the inhabitants to 
declare themselves either German or French citi¬ 
zens. 150,000 people declared themselves for France 
and a third of these moved over the border to be¬ 
come French citizens. German language was then 
made compulsory in the schools and in courts and 
legislative bodies. Still a great part of the remain¬ 
ing inhabitants longed to be under the French flag 
and were in constant trouble with their German 
rulers. In the present War these border countries 
were used to great advantage in preparation for the 
sudden attack on France. 

After recognition of the moral obligation to repair 
the wrong done in 1871 by Germany to France and 
the people of Alsace-Lorraine, the territories ceded 
to Germany by the treaty of Frankfort are restored 
to France with their frontiers as before 1871, to 
date from the signing of the armistice, and to he free 
of all public debts. 

Citizenship is regulated by detailed provisions dis¬ 
tinguishing those who are immediately restored to 
full French citizenship, those who have to make a 
formal application therefor, and those for whom 
naturalization is open after three years. The last 
named class includes German residents in Alsace- 
Lorraine, as distinguished from those who acquire 
the position of Alsace-Lorrainers, as defined in the 
treaty. All public property and all private property 
of German ex-sovereigns passes to France without 
payment or credit. France is substituted for Ger¬ 
many as regards ownership of the railroads and 
rights over concessions of tramways; the Rhine 
bridges pass to France with the obligation for their 

upkeep. 


134 


THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS 


For five years manufactured products of Alsace- 
Lorraine will be admitted to Germany free of duty 
to a total amount not exceeding in any year the aver¬ 
age of the three years preceding the war and textile 
materials may be imported from Germany to Alsace- 
Lorraine and re-exported free of duty. Contracts 
for electric power from the right bank must be con¬ 
tinued for ten years. 

For seven years, with possible extension to ten, 
the ports of Kehl and Strassbourg shall be adminis¬ 
tered as a single unit by a French administrator ap¬ 
pointed and supervised by the central Rhine com¬ 
mission. Property rights will be safeguarded in both 
ports and equality of treatment as respects traffic 
assured the nationals, vessels, and goods of every 
country. 

The Saar Coal Mines. 

While Germany occupied northern France, she 
took possession of and exploited the French coal 
mines about the City of Lens. These mines in pre¬ 
war times had furnished France a large part of the 
coal for her great manufacturing districts. De¬ 
prived of these precious mines during the war, 
France had to import most of her coal from England 
at prohibitive prices. Coal rose in Paris to sixty 
dollars a ton. 

When Germany saw that her armies were likely to 
be driven back, she determined to destroy the coal 
mines. She could have put them out of order for the 
time being, as perhaps any fighting nation would 
have done, but Germany was looking forward to the 
years after the war when France would again be 
competing with Kbr in the markets of the world. So, 


GERMANY’S WEST BOUNDARIES 


135 


contrary to all laws of right and of common decency, 
Germany wrecked these mines completely until it 
is a question of years before they can be worked. 
This was such a dastardly act that the Peace Con¬ 
ference concluded that it must have special punish¬ 
ment. Germany must pay for it by giving to Prance 
the Saar coal mines of Germany. 

The Saar River is over 150 miles long and flows 
northwest from the Vosges Mountains into the Mo¬ 
selle, a few miles above Treves. The Saar Canal 
connects its middle course with the Rliine-Marne 
Canal. Saarbrucken, the town is the center of a 
coal mining district which produces seven hundred 
millions of tons every year. It was garrisoned by 
France from 1801 to 1815 when it went to Prussia, 
It was the scene of the opening engagement of the 
Franco-Prussian war of 1870-1871. It manufactures 
woolens and linen fabrics, hardware, glass, leather 
and tapestry. It has an old castle, a town hall with 
frescoes of Werner, a fine new statute of Bismarck 
and a gymnasium. 

A pure German population now lives in the Saar 
Basin. It is partly Prussian and partly Bavarian. 
To put this territory under French dominion for 
fifteen years would change the customs and the coin¬ 
age and separate the legislation and jurisdiction 
completely from German rule. So the Peace Confer¬ 
ence put it under the League of Nations. 

The German delegation at the Peace Conference 
acknowledged that France must be repaid for the 
devastation by her enemies of the coal mines of 
Northern France. They realized that money alone 
would not supply the French with coal. But instead 
of giving France jurisdiction over the Saar Basin, 


136 


THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS 


they wanted to make up the deficiency in coal to 
France and Belgium through their Ruhr coal mines 
as well as the Saar. They suggested that experts 
from both nations get together and determine the 
repayment of all lawful claims. 

The Allies replied that the destruction of the 
French coal mines at Lens was of such a nature that 
a definite punishment should be meted out and the 
devastation should not be condoned by the handing 
over of a specified amount of coal by the Germans. 
They said no arrangement could be made wherein 
France would have the security and certainty which 
she would have from the free ownership of the mines 
of the Saar. The handing over of shares in German 
coal mines in German territory under German con¬ 
trol would be of doubtful safety to French holders. 

No alternative was permissible in the Saar terms, 
said the Allies. The district of the Saar Basin is to 
continue for fifteen years under the control of the 
League of Nations. This involves no annexation 
while it gives possession of the coal fields to France 
and maintains the economic unity of the district so 
important to the inhabitants. At the end of fifteen 
years the population will have complete freedom to 
decide their allegiance. 

The treaty provides as follows: In compensation 
for the destruction of coal mines in northern France 
and as payment on account of reparation, Germany 
cedes to France full ownership of the coal mines of 
the Saar Basin. Their value will be estimated by the 
Reparations Commission and credited against that 
account. The French rights will be governed by Ger¬ 
man law in force at the armistice excepting war legis¬ 
lation, France replacing the present owners whom 


GERMANY’S WEST BOUNDARIES 137 

Germany undertakes to indemnify. France will con¬ 
tinue to furnish the present proportion of coal for 
local needs and contribute in just proportion to local 
taxes. 

In order to secure the rights and welfare of the 
population and guarantee to France entire freedom 
in working the mines, the territory will he gov¬ 
erned by a commission appointed by the League of 
Nations and consisting of five members, one French, 
one a native inhabitant of the Saar, and three repre¬ 
senting three different countries other than France 
and Germany. The league will appoint a member of 
the commission as chairman to act as executive of the 
commission. The commission will have all powers of 
government formerly belonging to the German Em¬ 
pire, Prussia, and Bavaria, will administer the rail¬ 
roads and other public services and have full power 
to interpret the treaty clauses. The local courts will 
continue, but subject to the commission. Existing 
German legislation will remain the basis of law, but 
the commission may make modifications after con¬ 
sulting a local representative assembly which it will 
organize. It will have the taxing power but for local 
purposes only. New taxes must be approved by this 
assembly. The people will preserve their local as¬ 
semblies, religious liberties, schools, and language, 
but may vote only for local assemblies. They will 
keep their present nationality except so far as indi¬ 
viduals may change it. Those wishing to leave will 
have every facility with respect to their property. 
The territory will form part of the French customs 
system with no export tax on coal and metallurgical 
products going to Germany nor on German products 
entering the basin, and for five years no import 


133 


THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS 


duties on products of the basin going to Germany or 
German products coming into the basin for local con¬ 
sumption. French money may circulate without re¬ 
striction. 

After fifteen years a plebiscite will be held by com¬ 
munes to ascertain the desires of the population as 
to the continuance of the existing regime under the 
League of Nations, union with France, or union with 
Germany. The right to vote will belong to all in¬ 
habitants over twenty resident therein at the signa¬ 
ture of the treaty. Taking into account the opinions 
thus expressed, the league will decide the ultimate 
sovereignty. In any portion restored to Germany, 
the German Government must buy out the French 
mines at an appraised valuation, if the price is not 
paid within six months thereafter this portion passes 
finally to France. If Germany buys back the mines, 
the league will determine how much of the coal shall 
be annually sold to France. • 

Justice to Denmark. 

Schleswig-Holstein from the tenth century has 
been bandied between Germany and Denmark, the 
territory being first under the protection of one and 
then of the other. When Bismarck began to unify 
Germany by force in 1864, Schleswig and Holstein 
were seized by Prussia. The Danes in the territory 
were then Germanized by being forced to accept Ger¬ 
man language and customs. 

Schleswig-Holstein embraces about 7,300 square 
miles. The land lies so low that it is protected by 
dikes. The Elbe River forms the southern boundary 
and the Eider separates Schleswig and Holstein. 


GERMANY’S WEST BOUNDARIES 


139 


Holstein is tlie home of the cattle known by that 
name. Agriculture and the raising of cattle and 
horses are the occupation. The Kaiser Wilhelm 
canal traverses this province connecting the North 
Sea and the Baltic. The chief ports are Altona, 
Flemsberg and Kiel. 

In the revised treaty Southern Schleswig, which 
is almost entirely German, is left out of the plebiscite 
giving both banks of the Kiel Canal to Germany. 

The frontier between Germany and Denmark will 
be fixed in accordance with the wishes of the popula¬ 
tion. The territory is to be administered by an in¬ 
ternational commission of five, of whom Norway and 
Sweden shall be invited to name two. 

The commission shall insure a free and secret vote 
in three zones, and will then draw a new frontier on 
the basis of these plebiscites and with due regard for 
geographical and economic conditions. Germany 
will renounce all sovereignty over territories north 
of this line in favor of the associated governments, 
who will hand them over to Denmark. 

Heligoland. 

Heligoland is a small German island in the North 
Sea thirty-five miles off the coast of Schleswig-Hol¬ 
stein. It is only about a fifth of a square mile in 
extent. It originally belonged to Denmark and was 
ceded by her to Great Britain who by treaty 
transferred it to Germany in 1890. Since the sea 
had worn its surface to only a small part of its orig¬ 
inal size the Germans built a sea-wall all around to 
protect it, costing thirty-millions. It had two good 
ports, one on the north side and one on the south, 
which afforded accommodation for the German High 


140 


THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS 


Sea fleet and gave a commanding position over the 
entrance to the Kiel Canal. Heligoland was heavily 
fortified and known as the “Gibraltar of the North 
Sea.” 

According to the treaty the fortifications, military 
establishments and harbors of the islands of Heligo¬ 
land and Dune are to be destroyed under the super¬ 
vision of the Allies by German labor and at Ger¬ 
many ’s expense. They may not be reconstructed or 
any similar works built in the future. 


CHAPTER XX. 

South and East Boundaries. 

The New Republic of Czecho-Slovakia. 

Czecho-Slovakia is a territory about four times as 
large as Belgium. Of its thirteen million inhabitants 
about ten are Czechs and Slovaks and the rest Ger¬ 
man. The main home of the Czechs is Bohemia 
which originally included Moravia and southern Si¬ 
lesia. Slovakia joins these states to the southeast. 
Austria was originally formed by the voluntary 
union of Bohemia, Austria and Hungary. From 
this it would seem fair to give the Czecho-Slovaks 
the right to withdraw. 

Bohemia has been on the edge of rebellion from 
Austria for years and during the World War sixty 
thousand of her people were executed by the Aus¬ 
trians. The collapse of Austria at the close of the 
war was largely due to the obstinate refusal of a 
large part of the Slav element to fight for her. 

The Czecho-Slovak army in Russia surprised the 
world. They were men who had formed part of the 
Austrian army and had either passed over voluntar¬ 
ily or were taken prisoners by the Russians. They 
volunteered to fight with the Russians against Ger¬ 
many and Austria and when the Bolsheviki made the 
Brest-Litovsk peace with Germany, they sought per¬ 
mission to cross Russia and Siberia to embark at 
Vladivostok to fight the Germans in France. The 
Bolsheviki tried to murder them on their journey so 
they remained in Russia fighting with Japanese, 
English and American troops. 



142 


THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS 


The new Czecho-Slovak Republic was established 
after the armistice. The United States at once sent 
an ambassador to the new republic. German citi¬ 
zens and German speech rapidly disappeared from 
the streets. The main problem was whether Czecho¬ 
slovakia should include the German parts of Silesia 
and German Bohemia to the north and what conces¬ 
sions it should make to Poland. 

By the terms of the treaty Germany recognizes 
the entire independence of the Czecho-Slovak state, 
including the autonomous territory of the Ruthen- 
ians south of the Carpathians, and accepts the front¬ 
iers of this state as to be determined, which in the 
case of the German frontier shall follow the frontier 
of Bohemia in 1914. 

The Story of Poland. 

Poland, at the time of its greatest extent, stretched 
across central Europe from the Baltic Sea to the 
Dneister River with its western boundary 90 miles 
from Berlin and its eastern frontier 150 miles west 
from Moscow. Its capital was Warsaw. For hun¬ 
dreds of years the people of Poland were of greater 
importance and more intelligent than those of Rus¬ 
sia or of Northern Germany. 

In 1700 Poland joined with Russia and Denmark 
for an attack on Sweden; and this alliance with Rus¬ 
sia was the beginning of its downfall. Catherine II. 
of Russia said she would either control Poland or 
take it. Frederick William of Prussia promised the 
land his support, but secretly connived with Russia. 
Catherine II. won over a number of the higher 
Polish nobles and invaded Poland with an over- 


SOUTH AND EAST BOUNDARIES 143 

whelming army. The Poles fought bravely but had 
to submit to Russia, who seized a slice of the country. 

Later a Prussian army entered the field and con¬ 
quered another part. In the end Poland was sub¬ 
jected to three separate partitions, Prussia taking 
the westernmost part of the country, Russia, taking- 
parts of Lithuania and Ukraine, and Austria taking 
the southern part. In 1794 Kosciuzko led a Polish 
uprising and drove the Russians from Warsaw, but 
was defeated and made prisoner in the same year. 

The last partition in 1795, was sanctioned by the 
Congress of Vienna in 1815. It gave Russia 220,000 
square miles, Prussia 26,000 square miles and Aus¬ 
tria 35,000 square miles of Polish territory. 

Although Napoleon later took parts of Poland 
from Germany and made a free town of Danzig, yet 
the end of the French Empire saw Prussia again in 
possession of Danzig, the Province of Posen and the 
whole course of the lower Vistula. 

For more than a hundred years the Poles under 
Russia had their self-government suppressed, their 
laws abrogated, strict censorship of the press and 
the Russian spy police system. All attempts at revo¬ 
lution were checked and when they fought conscrip¬ 
tion of their young warriors the leaders of the re¬ 
bellion were sent to Siberia. Russian was made the 
official language and the language of the schools. The 
war had the most devastating effect on Russian- 
Poland. The country was ruined by fire, and sword. 

Prussia also behaved with great brutality toward 
her polish subjects. Estates were purchased, subdi¬ 
vided and sold so as to replace Polish settlers with 
German. Danzig was made a German speaking city 
and other efforts were made to destroy the Polish 


144 


THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS 


tongue. There are in Prussian Poland millions of 
Poles who hate Prussia in a way hard to understand. 

If we look at the map we shall see that Poland 
forms a “salient” of great depth extending into 
Germany and that it has no seaport except Danzig. 
If this port were not made free to her she would 
have to submit to whatever economic conditions Ger¬ 
many might impose. Poland as a barrier between 
her old foes, Russia and Germany, must have full 
protection from the League of Nations. To settle 
the boundary of the restored Poland was one of the 
most difficult problems of the Peace Conference. 

Ignace Jan Paderewski. 

We cannot understand the Poland of today with¬ 
out the story of her modern patriot. Ignace Jan 
Paderewski is to Poland what Benjamin Franklin 
was to our country in 1776. He is the leader and 
hero of the Polish nation and premier of Poland. 
His cool-headed policy amidst the conflicting fac¬ 
tions and his wonderful plea at the Peace Conference 
won the regard of all the nations. Paderewski is 
the greatest living pianist of today. He is also a 
composer of note. For the time being he has given 
up a career that has absorbed all his life and was 
earning him several millions of dollars a year, for 
a public service that may reduce him to proverty. Be¬ 
cause of this whole-hearted service and this pure 
patriotism his following is tremendous. 

Paderewski worked very hard to secure his musi¬ 
cal education, making his own living at thirteen. 
“One of my early lessons,” he says, “is that all joy 
must be earned.” He was not only a very sensitive 
youth, he was tongue-tied. He practiced elocution 


SOUTH AND EAST BOUNDARIES 


145 


so diligently that today he is one of the most attrac¬ 
tive speakers. One night he addressed 15,000 people 
about the fate of Poland with such fire that the ban¬ 
queters threw their plates in the air. 

When Paderewski entered politics is was a sur¬ 
prise to many to know that he was at all a student 
of history, or that he knew finance and statesman¬ 
ship as few laymen knew it. When the Allied com¬ 
mission visited him in Poland he addressed each one 
of the representatives in his own tongue. It was 
said his hatred of the Germans had been intense 
since his last Berlin concert when.Hans von Bulow 
snored loudly through his recital. The pianist vowed 
he would never play in Germany again. 

One night when some thoughtless people left a 
concert room during his playing he got up and left 
himself saying that his audience were not the only 
ones privileged to walk out. However, at a concert 
in France when Marshal Foch entered the hall in 
the midst of one of his numbers and the applause 
drowned the recital, he played calmly on, remarking 
at the close that he was proud to play the triumphal 
march for so great a hero. 

In 1915 he came to America seeking ten million 
dollars for a Polish Relief Fund. He failed to get 
this sum but he gained nation-wide sympathy and 
acquainted our people with the needs of the Poles. 
In former concert tours in America he and his wife 
had travelled in a private car with many attendants 
and secretaries. This time they crossed the country 
in the plainest manner possible and donated the pro¬ 
ceeds of his tour, one hundred and forty-seven thou¬ 
sand dollars to the Polish cause. 

Paderewski was preferred in Poland above the 




146 


THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS 


Socialist leader. The Allies, after receiving guar¬ 
antees from him that justice and equality would be 
granted all Poles by a constitution, recognized the 
Republic of Poland Paderewski regime. 

The new leader called for a large army and com¬ 
pulsory military service to combat Bolshevism. He 
declared Poland must be strengthened with a sea¬ 
port and a fortress and that the establishment of the 
country without Danzig would be fatal to its in¬ 
dependence. Paderewski thought the land should 
be made over to the peasants and equal rights and 
freedom of speech insured to all. He insisted on aid 
for the laboring classes and the right to establish 
better living conditions. Under such a leader and 
safeguarded by the League of Nations the suffering, 
down-trodden people of Poland are looking forward 
to freedom and happiness. 

Under the treaty Germany ceded to Poland the 
greater part of upper Silesia, Posen, and the Pro¬ 
vince of West Prussia on the left bank of the Vistula. 
A field boundary commission of seven, five repre¬ 
senting the allied and associated powers, and one 
each representing Poland and Germany, was to be 
constituted within fifteen days of the signing of 
peace to delimit this boundary. Such special pro¬ 
visions as are necessary to protect racial, linguistic 
or, religious minorities, and to assure freedom of 
transit and equitable treatment of commerce of other 
nations was to be laid down in a subsequent treaty 
between the five allied and associated powers and 
Poland. 

East Prussia. 

East Prussia is the most northeastern province of 
Germany. It lies on the Baltic Sea with the former 


SOUTH AND EAST BOUNDARIES 


147 


Russian Poland on the east and south and West 
Prussia on the west. Konigsberg is the capital. The 
Memel is the chief river. Agriculture and the rais¬ 
ing of fine horses are the principal occupations. 

The southern and the eastern frontier of East 
Prussia as affecting Poland is to be fixed by plebis¬ 
cites. 

German troops and authorities were to move out 
within fifteen days of the peace and the territories 
were to be placed under an international commission 
of five members appointed by the five allied and as¬ 
sociated powers, with the particular duty of arrang¬ 
ing for a free, fair and secret vote. The commission 
will report the results of the plebiscites to the five 
powers with a recommendation for the boundary 

and will terminate its work as soon as the boundarv 

«/ 

has been laid down and the new authorites set up. 

The five allied and associated powers will draw up 
regulations assuring East Prussia full and equitable 
access to and use of the Vistula. A subsequent con¬ 
vention, of which the terms will be fixed up by the 
five allied and associated powers, will be entered into 
between Poland, Germany and Danzig to assure 
suitable railroad communication across German ter¬ 
ritory on the right bank of the Vistula between Po¬ 
land and Danzig, while Poland shall grant free pas¬ 
sage from East Prussia to Germany. 

* 

The northeastern corner of East Prussia about 
Memel is to be ceded by Germany to the associated 
powers, the former agreeing to accept the settlement 
made, especially as regards the nationality of the in¬ 
habitants. 


148 


THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS 


The Free City of Danzig. 

In 1466 the town of Danzig declared itself a free 
city under the protection of Poland. In 1793 it be¬ 
came Prussian and was pretty thoroughly German¬ 
ized. It was taken by the French in 1807 and re¬ 
taken by the Allies in 1814 and restored to Prussia, 
and remained there under Germany as the capital of 
West Prussia. 

There are at present many Germans in Danzig and 
this was a reason for not annexing it to Poland. And 
yet Poland had to have a seaport. So the Peace 
Treaty made it and some of the surrounding terri¬ 
tory a free town under control of the League of 
Nations. 

Danzig and the district immediately about it are 
to be constituted into the “free City of Danzig” un¬ 
der the guarantee of the League of Nations. A high 
commissioner appointed by the league and resident 
at Danzig shall draw up a constitution in agreement 
with the duly appointed representatives of the city 
and shall deal in the first instance with all differ¬ 
ences arising between the city and Poland. The 
actual boundaries of the city shall be defined by a 
commission appointed within six months from the 
signing of peace, and to include three representa¬ 
tives chosen by the allied and associated powers, and 
one each by Germany and Poland. 

A convention, the terms o£ which shall be fixed 
by the five allied and associated powers, shall be 
concluded between Poland and Danzig, which shall 
include Danzig within the Polish customs frontiers 
though with a free area in the port; insure to Poland 
the free use of all the city’s waterways, docks, and 


SOUTH AND EAST BOUNDARIES 149 

other port facilities, the control and administration 
of the Vistula and the whole through railway system 
within the city, and postal, telegraphic, and tele¬ 
phonic communications between Poland and Danzig; 
provide against discrimination against Poles within 
the city and place its foreign relations and the diplo¬ 
matic protection of its citizens abroad in charge of 
Poland. 

There are fifty bridges crossing the rivers and 
canals leading to Danzig and vast stores of grain 
are exported from this port. It serves as a clearing 
port for agricultural regions of eastern Russia and 
Poland. Danzig as the sea-port for the new state 
of Poland of 20,000,000 people will soon become one 
of the most important cities of Eastern Europe. 

Russia’s West Boundary. 

Russia entered the war on the side of the Allies 
but after a revolutionary government had over¬ 
thrown the autocratic empire and removed the Czar, 
she was forced to sign the Brest-Litovsk treaty with 
Germany in 1918 under the Bolshevik government. 
In this treaty Germany succeeded in cutting Russia 
off from both the Baltic Sea and the Black Sea by 
isolating all her outlying provinces on the north, 
west and south. 

Finland, Esthonia, Livonia and Courland on the 
Baltic Sea were given autonomous administrations. 
Ukraine on the Black Sea was made a new state and 
a local government was set up in Poland. Germany 
at that time contemplated a German King for these 
states. These new states deprived Russia of her 
chief sea-ports and her great industrial cities and 


150 


THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS 


Russia became an inland state with buffer states 
between it and Germany. 

To deal with Russia and Bolshevism was one of 
the uncompleted tasks of the Peace Conference. To 
adjudge the boundaries of all the states formed from 
Russia according to the nationality of their peoples 
is the task of the League of Nations, but these peo¬ 
ples are so intermixed and the boundaries so con¬ 
fused, it will take many years to accomplish it. Mean¬ 
time the world must either help Russia out of its 
rule of Bolshevism or recognize the new order and 
risk its spreading through all the countries of 
Europe. 

By the treaty Germany agrees to respect as per¬ 
manent and inalienable the independence of all ter¬ 
ritories which were part?>f the former Russian Em¬ 
pire, to accept the abrogation of the Brest-Litovsk 
and other treaties entered into with the Maximalist 
government of Russia, to recognize the full force of 
all treaties entered into by the allied and associated 
powers with states which were part of the former 
Russian Empire, and to recognize the frontiers as 
determined thereon. The allied and associated pow¬ 
ers formally reserve the* right of Russia to obtain 
restitution and reparation on the principles of the 
present treaty. 


CHAPTER XXI. 

German Rights and Interests Outside Europe. 

Outside of Europe Germany renounces all rights, 
titles, and privileges as to her own or her allies’ ter¬ 
ritories to all the allied and associated powers, and 
undertakes to accept whatever measures are taken 
by the five allied powers in relation thereto. 

Thirty-five years ago Germany did not possess a 
single colony. In 1884 she acquired at one stroke 
three large territories in Africa—Togo, Kamerun, 
and Southwest Africa. The same year she occupied 
a third of the largest island in the world, New 
Guinea, besides the small islands that border it. The 
following year she put her hand upon East Africa. 
In 1897 she established herself upon the coast of 
China, at Kiaochou; in 1899, in the Carolines, in 
the Palaos, in the Mariannes, and in the Marshall Is¬ 
lands; in 1900, in the Samoan Islands, and thus 
eventually she became one of the main powers of the 
Pacific Ocean. 

What a colonizing people seeks first of all is land 
for its emigrants, if the home country has more in¬ 
habitants than it can support. In Germany the ex¬ 
cess of births over deaths passed yearly a total of 
800,000. And yet Germany did not especially seek 
to people colonies; she preferred to send her na¬ 
tionals to other countries. The United States, Bra¬ 
zil and the Argentine Republic, Russia, the Orient, 
Austria-Hungary, Italy, Switzerland, Belgium, and 
even France—these were the true domains of Ger¬ 
man emigration. Even when naturalized, the emi- 


152 THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS 

grant Germans remained Germans; by tlie strange 
privilege of a law of circumstances, the so-called 
“Dernburg law,” they remained the faithful chil¬ 
dren of old Germany, the good servants of Deutsch- 
tum. 

But what a colonizing people seeks, in the second 
place, is territories capable of furnishing it with the 
raw materials of industry which it does not find 
upon its own soil. It seeks also natives who will 
purchase the manufactured articles which it turns 
out from its factories. Germany sought this above 
all in her colonial empire. She envied the United 
States for the ability to find upon its own soil all 
kinds of products and beneath the soil all useful and 
precious minerals. Since she could not be like the 
United States, she aspired to be like England, and 
also like France, and to carve out for herself, if need 
be, at the expense of these two, an empire which 
would furnish her with all the raw materials which 
her formidable industry purchased for a sum that 
grew in volume yearly. 

That is why the great manufacturers of the Khine 
and Westphalia were the most ardent colonizers of 
Germany. That is why Germany, without ceasing to 
seek in her tropical colonies coffee, cocoa, sugarcane, 
rice, bananas, and manioc, demanded from them 
above all rubber, so as to have no further need of 
Brazil, the Belgian and French Congo, and English 
Malaysia; cotton, so as no longer to depend on India, 
on Egypt, or on the United States; tropical textiles, 
jute, rapliia, ramie, sisal, so as to be no longer at 
the mercy of India or some other colony belonging 
to its Western rivals; finally, and above all, those 
oleaginous products of the tropical zone, arachide, 


GERMANY’S RIGHTS & INTERESTS OUTSIDE EUROPE 153 

palm-oil, cocoanut, which produce cheap vegetal oils 
on which so many industries depend. 

Germany received from her own colonies about 
$13,000,000 worth of these and other products. But 
her needs mounted to more than twenty-three times 
as much as her colonies produced. And all this de¬ 
ficiency must be imported from her rivals. Thus the 
very profit which German industry derived from her 
colonies induced her to demand extension of her col¬ 
onial domain. 

By the treaty Germany renounces in favor of the 
allied and associated powers her overseas posses¬ 
sions with all rights and titles therein. All movable 
and immovable property belonging to the German 
Empire or to any German state shall pass to the 
government exercising authority therein. These 
governments may make whatever provisions seem 
suitable for the repatriation of German nationals 
and as to the conditions on which German subjects 
of European origin shall reside, hold property or 
carry on business. Germany undertakes to pay re¬ 
paration for damage suffered by French nationals in 
the Kameruns or its frontier zone through the acts 
of German civil and military authorities and of indi¬ 
vidual Germans from January 1, 1900, to August 1, 
1914. Germany undertakes to accept and observe 
any provisions by the allied and associated powers 
as to the trade in arms and spirits in Africa. Diplo¬ 
matic protection to inhabitants of former German 
colonies is to he given by the governments exercising 
authority. 


CHAPTER XXII. 


German Interests in China. 

The Story of Shantung. 

One of the most debated parts of the peace treaty 
was the disposition of Shantung. 

Shantung is a mountainous promontory of China, 
reaching out from the mainland into the Yellow Sea 
for two hundred miles. Its area is nearly 56,000 
square miles. The Grand Canal runs through this 
province from north to south, and there are several 
good harbors. A fine deposit of fertilizer in this 
country encourages the growth of cotton, some rice, 
tobacco, indigo, wheat, barley and maize. Silk, pon¬ 
gee and brocades are woven at the capital of the 
province. Shantung is also very rich in minerals. 
There are deposits of coal and iron, gold, copper, 
marble, granite and sulphur. There are also four 
large coal fields. 

In 1897 two German priests were murdered in 
Shantung and this gave Germany a good excuse to 
impose on the weakness of China. A German squad¬ 
ron of battleships seized Kiaochou, a walled city on 
the south coast of the Province of Shantung. China 
hastened to offer reparation for this wrong, but 
Germany demanded an indemnity and a lease of 
Kiaochou and Tsingtao for 99 years. The City of 
Tsingtao has one of the finest harbors on the Chinese 
coast. The lease ran inland comprising about 117 
square miles and included valuable railway rights 
and preferential treatment in the mines of Shantung. 


GERMANY’S INTERESTS IN CHINA 155 

China, being in no position to resist Germany’s de¬ 
mands, gave her consent. 

German influence soon became strong all through 
the province. Railways were introduced by the Ger¬ 
mans extending from the port of Tsingtao to Tsinan- 
fu. Since 1898 Kiaochou has been the center of a 
German protectorate of about 193 square miles. In 
this German zone there were about 60,000 Germans 
including 5,000 German military troops. In 1897 
Tsingtao was only a poor fishing village but when it 
was taken over by the Germans, it became a thriving 
city. They bought it outright and built fine wide 
streets and installed banks and other conveniences 
for trade. They spent seven millions of dollars for 
- a wonderful outer and inner harbor. In the sixteen 
years they held Tsingtao the Germans invested 
about $125,000,000 and forested one hundred square 
miles with acacias and other trees. * Tsingtao was 
declared a free port in 1898 and the United States, 
Great Britain, Japan and Germany all traded there. 

Russia, following Germany’s example, got a lease 
of Port Arthur, which in the Russo-Japanese war 
fell into Japanese hands. France and Great Britain 
obtained leases of other ports. In fact, so many 
powers had rights in China, that she was not mis¬ 
tress of her own household and had to get the con¬ 
sent of all the powers concerned before she could 
even build a railroad. 

In 1914 when Japan declared war, she directed 
her attention to Germany’s interests in Shantung. 
She landed troops on the coast 150 miles from Kiao¬ 
chou, marched them across the peninsula through 
Chinese territory, greatly offending the Chinese by 
violating her neutrality. The British force that co- 


156 


THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS 


operated with them were careful to land within the 
German leased territory. After a ten week’s bom¬ 
bardment the German garrison surrendered to the 
Japanese. 

Two months later Japan presented to China what 
is known as the Twenty-one Demands. After many 
exchanges of notes the demands were separated by 
Japan into two groups and the first group was made 
into treaty form and China was given forty-eight 
hours to sign it or Japan would declare war. These 
articles secured China’s promise to agree to all ar¬ 
rangements Japan might make with Germany with 
regard to their rights and possessions. China was 
not to lease any part of Shantung to any other power 
and Japan was given the right to build a railroad to 
join the Shantung trunk line. China yielded and 
signed. The rest of the demands were postponed 
but they were of a nature that China believed threat¬ 
ened her future. 

In one of the notes Japan promised to restore to 
China the leased territory of Kiaochou bay provided 
that the right to certain ports and places to be after- 
• wards designated by Japan might be hers. 

At the Peace Conference Japan demanded that all 
German rights in Shantung should be uncondition¬ 
ally transferred to her. China claimed that the 
restitution should be made to China because Shan¬ 
tung was part of China, inhabited by Chinese and 
was the birthplace of Confucius, one of China’s 
greatest philosophers. They said that its domina¬ 
tion by Japan would mean the isolation of all North 
China. 

When China declared war with Germany she 
claimed she abrogated all treaties between them, 


GERMANY’S INTERESTS IN CHINA 


157 


therefore immediately cancelling the 99 year lease 
of Shantung. So she said Shantung by this act fell 
at once to China. Japan based her claims on con¬ 
quest and showed a secret Treaty made in 1917 with 
Great Britain, France and Italy, which pledged their 
support to Japanese claims in China. 

The Japanese announced that Japan would restore 
the Shantung peninsula to China in full sovereignty 
but would retain to herself the economic rights 
granted to Germany and also the right to establish a 
concession at Tsingtao the port of Kiaochou Bay. 
Thus they declared that the political rights would 
be released to China and the economic rights kept 
by Japan, because they were financed by Japan. 

The Chinese claimed that there could be no re¬ 
storation of sovereign rights to China because none 
were ever granted to Germany. They said that the 
Japanese concession at Tsingtao showed that not all 
political rights were restored to China. By posses¬ 
sion of the important railway, mining and other pref- 

I erential rights in Shantung, Japan secured an eco¬ 
nomic domination in Shantung which was greater 
than Germany ever had. 

In forty years the Japanese had sprung from a 
hardly recognized nation to one of the great powers 
of the world. The enormous population of Japan 
needed more territory. They are industrious, physi¬ 
cally strong and educated to obedience. In China 
are deposits of coal, iron and other rich minerals 
enough to supply Japan for a thousand years. Japan 
needed these minerals and she was no longer sepa¬ 
rated from China by the sea. China's most vulner¬ 
able points were within striking distance of Japan¬ 
ese arms. 





158 


THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS 


At Shantung America was accused of failing to 
safeguard the interests of our ward and ally, China. 
Instead of our guaranteeing the secret pledges of 
Britain, France and Japan, it was said, we should 
have made them give up these pledges in order to 
have the support of our government. President 
Wilson, many believed, could have abrogated every 
secret treaty as the price of our assistance. We, as 
Americans, wanted nothing except the abandonment 
of all claims that might produce another war. 

Dr. C. T. Wang, Chinese delegate to the Peace 
Conference, a graduate of Yale, said “The peace of 
the whole world is endangered by the decision of the 
Peace Conference to give Japan special rights and 
privileges in Shantung formerly owned by Germany. 
We intend to appeal from the decision of the Peace 
Conference, or Shantung will become another Al¬ 
sace-Lorraine. How would you Americans feel if 
California were awarded to Japan? How would the 
Belgians feel if Antwerp were awarded to Great 
Britain because the British soldiers were instru¬ 
mental in driving the Germans out of Belgium? * 

* “If Japan gets her hands on China’s rich mineral 
resources and her hold on 400,000,000 Chinese, she 
will be a serious menace to the world. There is a 
dangerous military spirit in Japan. The Japanese 
Government is moved by a spirit of militarism, im¬ 
perialism and other things Prussian. With the con¬ 
trol Japan will have of the railroads, Peking can be 
blockaded on sea, since the Japanese stronghold at 
Port Arthur dominates the Gulf of Pechili and the 
port of Tientsin, which is the port of Peking. China 
was willing to declare war on Germany in 1914 in 
order to attack the Germans in Kiaochou in 1915, 


GERMANY’S INTERESTS IN CHINA 159 

but Japan opposed it. Japan has promised to give 
us back Shantung. It will give us back the rocky 
hills and keep the strategic points. ” 

It is misleading to say the Peace Treaty did not 
give Shantung to Japan. A witty Chinaman has re¬ 
plied to this, that a man might as well say he is not 
holding another man’s body but only his windpipe. 
As long as Japan controls Tsingtao and Tsinanfu, it 
has virtual control of the province, just as if they 
held the harbor of New York and the railway to 
Albany they would control the Hudson River. 

Japan’s Side of the Shantung Question. 

However we must look at Japan’s side of the ques¬ 
tion. The destiny of China was of profound conse¬ 
quence to all the world. It was a nation split by a 
thousand factions, we were told, and had a new civil 
war every week. Millions of people were exploited 
by a handful of military governors. As a nation it 
was unable to co-operate for industry and it had no 
decent systems of justice, schools, communications 
or schemes of national order or defence. In the years 
past the Chinese had gathered like flies about every 
foreign concession to secure protection and oppor¬ 
tunity. Chinese to the number of 481,000 flocked 
into Shantung after the Japanese capture of Tsing¬ 
tao, for security. 

6 ‘ Japan has solemnly promised to give back the 
leased territory of Kiaochau and to restore Shan¬ 
tung to China in full sovereignty, and Japan will 
keep her word,” says a Japanese statesman. 

“ China says we prevented her from entering the 
war in 1914. To have let China enter the war then 


160 


THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS 


would have given a chance for Germany to capitalize 
China’s weakness. German propaganda would have 
run rife. 

‘‘Before the Allies could make use of Chinese help, 
it was necessary that they organize China. I per¬ 
sist in the hope that with friendly assistance China 
may in time learn to rule herself. We Japanese 
believe that the League of Nations will work a freer 
and more effective civilization in practice as well as 
in theory. At such a time in such a world, it is the 
duty of men of every class to help in perfecting an 
indestructible barrier against the forces which have 
hindered the progress of the world. ’ ’ 

An American who had made a deep study of the 
Japanese question said we should not form our opin¬ 
ion of the Far Eastern question on anything but 
fundamental facts. There was, he said, only one 
self-governing people in the Orient. All except 
Japan were territories held together by Western in¬ 
fluence and guidance. India, the Philippines, China 
and Russia, except where greater powers had a 
hand, were in chaos and utter misery. In this part 
of the universe containing half of the people on the 
globe, Japan was the only one with a constructive 
civilization. Japan was bound to be the leader of 
civilization in her third of the world just as the Brit¬ 
ish were the leaders of cvilization of Europe and the 
United States in the Americas. These three coun¬ 
tries, because of their democratic self-governments 
with power to maintain them, their geographic posi¬ 
tion and their sea power, would, he said, always re¬ 
main stronger than any theories or any leagues. The 
strong would always lead the weak and our en¬ 
deavor should be to make the strong see that the 


GERMANY’S INTERESTS IN CHINA 


161 


world expects of them a new and high standard of 
obligation to the weak. 

“ China’s troubles have been exploitation from 
within as well as without. The corruption and 
tyranny at home have been worse than that from 
without. Japan in order to play the part of a friend 
to China, must at times be a dictator. As a matter 
of self-defense she must keep other foreign powers 
from obtaining further military and naval bases in 
China. Unless we are ready to maintain the force 
to control Asia and to invest the money to rehabili¬ 
tate Asia, the best way to work our will there is to 
help the Japanese to restore China by their leader¬ 
ship. 

“The relation of the United States to Mexico is 
not unlike that of Japan’s relation to China. Mexico 
is close to us and in an unsettled and an uncivilized 
condition. We fear and resent the footholds and 
propaganda obtained by foreign nations in Mexico. 
Just such incursions into China have been looked 
upon as a menace to Japan. We put soldiers into 
Mexico as a police measure; Japan has been forced 
to do this in China. Japanese wealth has developed 
large undertakings in China just as American 
wealth has developed resources in Mexico, which 
would otherwise remain dormant. We have failed 
to control corrupt Americans in Mexico and Japan 
has failed to control bad Japanese in China, but 
single instances of bad exploitation must not blind 
us to the greater good rendered. 

“ Since Japan occupied Tsingtao she has invested 
$400,000,000, improved public facilities to five times 
their former extent and increased the population 
sixty times. The part of the Twenty-one demands 


162 


THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS 


they forced upon China were to protect their 
interests here and indirectly the Chinese interests. 
Since China had not power to protect herself, the 
Japanese government believed it necessary to gain 
undisputed right over the German territory before 
she was in a position to restore it to China.’’ 

The Peace Conference granted Japan’s wish, and 
the government at Tokio agreed to hand the Shan¬ 
tung Peninsula back to China. The whole future 
relation between China and Japan came at once 
under the League of Nations. By the treaty terms 
Germany ceded to Japan all rights, titles, and privi¬ 
leges, notably as to Kiaochou and the'railroads, 
mines, and cables acquired by her treaty with China 
of March 6, 1898, and by other agreements as to 
Shantung. All German rights to the railroad from 
Tsingtao to Tsinanfu including all facilities and 
mining rights and rights of exploitation passed 
equally to Japan with the cables from Tsingtao to 
Shanghai and Chefoo, the cables free of all charges. 
All German state property, movable and immovable, 
in Kiaochou was acquired by Japan free of all 
charges. 

For the disposition of Germany’s other interests 
the reader is referred to the Summary of the Peace 
Treaty given in the Appendix. 


CHAPTER XXIII. 

if 

Peace With Austria. 

When the Peace Treaty was handed to the Ger¬ 
mans at Versailles, it was announced that the con¬ 
ference had invited German Austria to sign the 
terms of peace on May 14, at St. Germain. It was 
decided by the Council that Italy should play a more 
prominent part in the presentation of terms to the 
Austrians, and have seats at the head of the table. 

The meeting with the Austrian delegates was 
friendly. The delegation was headed by Dr. Karl 
Renner, the chancellor. He appeared in the door¬ 
way with his hat in his hand and a smile that put the 
reception committee at its ease. There was an ele¬ 
ment of politeness and civility about the Austrians 
that distinguished them from the German delegates. 

Both the Germans and the Austrians were re¬ 
ceived by their captors standing and when they were 
addressed by the presiding officer of the Conference, 
the spokesman stood. It was characteristic of the 
Germans that when Count Brockdorff-Rantzau re¬ 
plied, he remained seated, while the Austrian 
spokesman, Dr. Renner stood as M. Clemenceau 
had done. He spoke in behalf of 7,000,000 people 
and among those to whom he appealed were the 
delegates from Serbia. 

Dr. Renner complained because of the delay of 
the peace terms which aggravated the sufferings in 
Austria. He declared it was only thanks to the 
Hoover Commission that the lives of the Austrian 
population had been saved. He said, “We are be¬ 
fore you as one of the parts of a vanquished empire 


164 


THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS 


ready to assume our share of the consequences of 
the war. We are ready to accept each and every 
proposition you make u% But we ask you to listen 
to us as well as our neighbors concerning our eco¬ 
nomic needs.’’ He asked that the full weight of 
Austro-Hungary’s punishment should not fall on 
the little republic which is all that is left of the once 
mighty Austria. He said Austria deserved to take 
her part in the League of Nations. 

Austria’s Reduced Territory. 

In many respects the terms which the Peace Con¬ 
ference presented to Austria were identical with 
those presented to Germany. By this treaty Aus¬ 
tria is reduced to her lowest terms. Territorially 



mm 


independent! 

rr>, >. Kiwi,/”, 


TO 

ROUNIANIAl 




ITALY 


WHAT IS LEFT OF AUSTRIA 







































































PEACE WITH AUSTRIA 


165 


she is now one of the smallest of the countries in 
Central Europe. The old Austro-Hungarian Empire 
had a population of over 51 million; the present 
Austria has a population of less than 7 million with 
an area of less than 6,000 square miles. She ceases 
to have any sea-coast and becomes like Switzerland 
and Czechoslovakia, a purely inland state. 

“ Germany recognizes the independence of Ger¬ 
man Austria as inalienable except by consent of the 
League of Nations.” Before Austria can unite with 
Germany, she must have the unanimous approval of 
the League of Nations which may be difficult to ob¬ 
tain as other nations will not wish to see German 
territory increased. 

Austria renounces all rights over her former ter¬ 
ritories of the Czecho-Slovak and Serb-Croat- 
Slovene States and their boundaries as established 
by field commissions of the Allied and Associated 
Powers, and recognizes their independence. 

Austria also recognizes the independence of all 
parts of the former Russian Empire, and accepts the 
annulment of the Brest-Litovsk treaty. The Allies 
reserve the right to demand restitution on behalf of 
Russia. 

Austria agrees to the abrogation of the treaties 
concerning Belgium and Luxemburg and accepts all 
international arrangements to be made by the Allies 
in these cases and with Turkey and Bulgaria, as well 
as in regard to Schleswig-Holstein. 

The institutions of the Austrian Republic must 
be liberal, must protect minorities, give equal civil 
and religious liberty to all nationalities and creeds, 
including free use of all national languages and the 
establishment of non-German schooling. 


166 


THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS 


All rights and privileges outside Europe are re¬ 
nounced by Austria, as they were by Germany, in 
the cases of Egypt, Morocco, Siam and China. 

The entire Austro-Hungarian navy shall be finally 
surrendered. Twenty-one specified auxiliary cruis¬ 
ers are to be disarmed and treated as merchantmen. 
Warships and submarines under construction shall 
be broken up and no new submarines built. All 
naval arms and other war material shall be sur¬ 
rendered. The air clauses are like those in the 
German treaty except that the 100 air-planes are not 
allowed. All aviation material must be surrendered 
or demolished within two months and no more con¬ 
structed. Austria shall have no military or naval 
air forces. She may not send any military, naval or 
aerial missions to foreign countries. Austria is 
given access to the Adriatic. Austria abandons all 
financial claims against the signatory powers. 

Jugo-Slavia. 

The Serbs, Croats and Slovenes living on the 
eastern upper coast of the Adriatic Sea in Croatia, 
Slavonia, Dalmatia, Bosnia, Herzegovina and 
southern Hungary have joined Serbia and Monte¬ 
negro in a southern Slav republic, the word jugo 
meaning south. As soon as Austro-Hungary sur¬ 
rendered, a Congress of Jugoslavs was called and 
unity was proclaimed in 1918. The United States 
recognized the free kingdom in January, 1919. 
Serbia would like to dominate the new confederation 
but many of the Croats object. 

The Secretary of the new Kingdom says some of 
the states of Jugo-Slavia are served by Dalmatian, 
Montenegrin and Albanian harbors but that Croatia 
and Slovenia depend upon Fiume. It took the Hun- 


PEACE WITH AUSTRIA 


167 


garians fifty years to build Frame. None of the other 
ports, it is said, have the geographical advantages 
and the railways connecting with the Danube. To 
make Spoliato a port and furnish it with railroads 
would require the cutting of tunnels as difficult as 
those at St. Gothard. 

Fiume, a Bone of Contention. 

Fiume is a royal free town, a seaport of Hungary 
at the head of the Bay of Quarnerno, forty miles 
southeast of Trieste. It is an old town built on a hill 
with narrow, crooked streets, with a new part 
stretching along the shore with fine broad streets, 
handsome squares and elegant public buildings. 
Fiume has several harbors protected by a break¬ 
water over a half mile long, all lighted by electricity. 
It has been the most important port of Hungary, im¬ 
porting wine, rice, tobacco and jute and exporting 
flour, sugar and lumber. It has a population of 
nearly fifty thousand, chiefly Italians, Illyrians and 
Croats, but its suburbs are largely Slav. 

Fiume, since it occupies a distinctly international 
position was one of the bones of contention of the 
Peace Conference. The bitterest of all boundary 
disputes in the Peace Conference was this one be¬ 
tween Italy and Jugo-Slavia regarding the possession 
of the city and harbor of Fiume and of part of Dal¬ 
matia. The Italian delegates held that, since Fiume 
was two-thirds Italian in population, that under the 
principle of self-determination, she should go to 
Italy. The Southern Slavs declared their commerce 
would be cut off if they were denied this port. The 
Italians argued that they must hold the port to in¬ 
sure Italy’s future safety against Austria and the 


168 


THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS 


Jugoslavs, part of whom had been their enemies in 
the late war. 

The two delegations had to be heard separately so 
great was their antagonism. On April 20th Presi¬ 
dent Wilson withdrew and left Lloyd-George, Clem- 
enceau and Orlando, the Italian representative, to 
debate the question. President Wilson held that the 
whole region must belong to Jugoslavia, because the 
majority of the inhabitants in the whole back coun¬ 
try, surrounding the city proper were Jugoslavs. 

Great Britain and France were favorable to a 
compromise in favor of Italy. A secret treaty ex¬ 
isting between these countries and Italy, ceded part 
of the Dalmatian coast to Italy. Italy insisted this 
was still effective, but she was willing to modify it 
in exchange for Fiume. Premier Orlando and 
Foreign Minister Sonnino made it known that when 
the Italian Parliament reopened they would have to 
have definite knowledge of the decision, and if it 
was averse they would have to leave for Pome to 
submit the matter to a vote of the Parliament. 

On April 23, President Wilson, who had presented 
the matter to the entire American delegation, de¬ 
clared that he would not yield on the Adriatic ques¬ 
tion. This created a profound impression in the 
Peace Conference, because it was a hit at all pre¬ 
vious secret agreements that might be brought up 
during the signing of the Treaty. Mr. Wilson said 
that when Italy entered the war, she had a definite 
private understanding with Great Britain and 
France, now known as the Pact of London. This 
was to protect her from the aggressions of the 
Austro-Hungarian Empire. The Austro-Hungarian 
Empire had gone to pieces and certain parts were 
to be erected into independent states and associated 


PEACE WITH AUSTRIA 


169 


in the League of Nations. He said we were to estab¬ 
lish their liberty as well as our own. Fiume must 
serve as the outlet of the commerce, not of Italy, but 
of the land to the north and northeast of the port, 
Hungary, Bohemia, Rumania and the States of the 
new Jugoslav group. 

To assign Fiume to Italy would be to create the 
feeling that we had deliberately put the port, upon 
which all these countries chiefly depend for their 
access to the Mediterranean, in the hands of a power 
of which it did not form an integral part, and whose 
sovereignty if set up there, must inevitably seem 
foreign or not identified with the commercial and 
industrial life of the regions which the port must 
serve. It was for that reason, no doubt, that Fiume 
was not included in the Pact of London, but was 
definitely assigned to the Croatians. There can be 
no fear of unfair treatment of Italian peoples in 
Fiume, because a definite guarantee will be given 
under international sanction, of the equitable treat¬ 
ment of the racial or national minorities. 

Upon this pronouncement by President Wilson, 
the Italian delegates returned home in high dudgeon 
to make an official statement to Parliament, The 
Italian press as a whole, took the position that the 
withdrawal of the Italian delegation from the Peace 
Conference was inevitable if Italy could not have 
Fiume. The crowds in the streets of Rome were so 
dense, that it took the Premier two hours to reach 
Quirinal Square from the royal palace. 

It was announced that all the political parties had 
approved the stand of the Italian delegation. For a 
time the delegates were the idols of Rome. Premier 
Orlando spoke before the Chamber of Deputies and 
was given a vote of confidence by a ballot of 382 to 


170 


THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS 


40, tlie minority being Socialists. The Italian Sen¬ 
ate were unanimous in their vote of confidence. 
However, later the calmer minds became concerned 
lest Italy be ignored at the conference. On May 4th, 
the Italian delegation returned to the Peace Con¬ 
ference, some said of their own volition, others by 
the urgent invitation of France and Great Britain, 
who had sent special messengers to Italy. Thus in 
the end Italys’ delegates protesting signed the 
treaty. 

Fiume a Free State. 

It was first decided to give Fiume to Jugo-Slavia 
and the Italian government had given its reluctant 
consent, but a body of mutinous Italian soldiers took 
possession of the city in September 1919 and nobody 
wanted the task of dislodging them forcibly. The 
Italian government naturally hesitated to shed Ital¬ 
ian blood to free the city from its own discharged 
soldiers. 

The Peace Conference which was still in session 
then decided to make Fiume a separate state, the 
harbor to be a free port, to give Dalmatia to Jugo¬ 
slavia and to make Zara a free port also. Italy was 
to be mandatory over Albania. During the war 
Italy had introduced into Albania modern systems 
of sanitation, education and laws. 


PEACE WITH AUSTRIA 


171 


The Hoped-for German Peace. 

Oil June 30, 1918, when Germany was on the point 
of winning the war, Count Roon gave out the terms 
that Germany expected to impose on the Allies. 
Similar terms had been suggested by several of Ger¬ 
many ’s leaders during the war. Count Roon thought 
the Allies when thoroughly beaten would be entitled 
to these generous considerations: 

1. No armistice until British forces were out of 

France and Paris occupied. 

2 . Annexation of Belgium and the channel coast 

to south of Calais. 

3. Annexation of the Briey-Longwy iron region. 

4. Annexation of Belfast, Toul and Verdun and 

all French territory east of these forts. 

5. Return of German colonies. 

6. Surrender by Great Britain of coaling sta¬ 

tions including Gibraltar. 

7. Surrender to Germany of the entire British 

Navy. 

8. Egypt and the Suez Canal to Turkey. 

9. Restoration of Constantine as King of Greece. 

10. Division of Serbia between Austro-Hungary 

and Bulgaria. 

11. Occupation of French territories until agree¬ 

ments were carried out, costs of occupation 

to be met by France. 

In addition treaties with Russia and Roumania 
were to stand, with Poland, Courland, Lithuania, 
Livonia and Esthonia practically annexed to Ger¬ 
many and Finland, the Ukraine and Roumania to be 
subject kingdoms of Germany. 


APPENDIX 


♦ 


SUMMARY OF THE GERMAN PEACE 

TREATY. 


The revised text of the summary, published in the Congressional 
Record, June 12, 1919, has been used. 

PART ONE—THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS. 

The full text of the Covenant of the League of Nations is found 
in preceding pages of this volume. 

PART TWO—BOUNDARIES OF GERMANY. 

Germany cedes to France, Alsace-Lorraine, 5600 square miles, in 
the southwest, and to Belgium two small districts between Luxembourg 
and Holland, totaling 382 square miles. She also cedes to Poland the 
Southeastern tip of Silesia beyond and including Oppeln, most of Posen 
and West Prussia, 21,686 square miles, East Prussia being isolated 
from the main body by a part of Poland. She loses sovereignty over 
the northeasternmost tip of East Prussia, 40 square miles north of the 
River Memel, and the internationalized areas about Danzig, 729 square 
miles, and the basin of the Saar, 738 square miles, between the western 
border of the Rhenish Palatinate of Bavaria and the southeast corner 
of Luxembourg. The Danzig area consists of the V between the Nogat 
and Vistula rivers made a W by the addition of a similar V on the 
west, including the city of Danzig. The Southeastern third of East 
Prussia anti the area between East Prussia and the Vistula, north of 
latitude 53° 30', is to have its nationality determined by a popular vote, 
5785 square miles, as is to be the case in part of Schleswig, 2787 square 
miles. 

PART THREE—POLITICAL CLAUSES FOR EUROPE. 

Belgium—Germany is to consent to the abrogation of the treaties 
of 1839 by which Belgium was established as a neutral state, and to 
agree in advance to any convention with which the allied and asso¬ 
ciated powers may determine to replace them. She is to recognize the 
full sovereignty of Belgium over the contested territory of Moresnet 
and over part of Prussian Moresnet, and to renounce in favor of Bel¬ 
gium all rights over the circles of Eupen and Malmedy, the inhabitants 
of which are to be entitled within six months to protest against this 
change of sovereignty either in whole or in part, the final decision to 
be reserved to the League of Nations. A commission is to settle the 
details of the frontier and various regulations for change of nation¬ 
ality are laid down. 

Luxemburg—Germany renounces her various treaties and conven¬ 
tions with the Grand Duchy of Luxemburg, recognizes that it ceased 
to be a part of the German zollverein from Jan. 1, last, renounces 
all right of exploitation of its railways, adheres to the abrogation of 
its neutrality, and accepts in advance any international agreement as 
to it, reached by the allied and associated powers. 

Left Bank of the Rhine—As provided in the military clauses, Ger¬ 
many will not maintain any fortifications or armed forces less than 50 
kilometers to the east of the Rhine, hold any maneuvers, nor main¬ 
tain any works to facilitate mobilization. In case of violation, “she 
shall be regarded as committing a hostile act against the powers who 
sign the present treaty and as intending to disturb the peace of the 
world.” “By virtue of the present treaty Germany shall be bound to 
respond to any request for an explanation which the council of the 
League of Nations may think it is necessary to address to her.” 



11 


Alsace-Lorraine—After recognition of the moral obligation to re- 

S^ rong '. don f in - 187 . 1 b 7 Germany to France and the people 
or Alsace-Lorraine, the territories ceded to Germany by the treaty of 
f r ^ I nbfo *’ t are restored to France with their frontiers as before 1871, 
dbt 6 fr ° m the Slgning of the armistice, and to be free of all public 


Citizenship is regulated by detailed provisions distinguishing those 
who are immediately restored to full French citizenship, those who 
nave to make a formal application therefor, and those for whom nat- 
uralization is open after three years. The last named class includes 
Cerman residents in Alsace-Lorraine, as distinguished from those who 
acquire the position of Alsace-Lorrainers as defined in the treaty. All 
public property and all private property of Germany ex-sovereigns 
passes to France without payment or credit. France is substituted for 
Germany as regards ownership of the railroads and rights over con¬ 
cessions of tramways; the Rhine bridges pass to France with the obli¬ 
gation for their upkeep. 

For five years manufactured products of Alsace-Lorraine will be 
admitted to Germany free of duty to a total amount not exceeding in 
any year the average of the three years preceding the war and textile 
materials may be imported from Germany to Alsace-Lorraine and re¬ 
exported free of duty. Contracts for electric power from the right 
bank must be continued for ten years. 

For seven years, with possible extension to ten, the ports of Kehl 
and Strassbourg shall be administered as a single unit by a French 
administrator appointed and supervised by the central Rhine commis¬ 
sion. Property rights will be safeguarded in both ports and equality 
of treatment as respects traffic assured the nationals, vessels, and 
goods of every country. 

Contracts between Alsace-Lorrainers and Germans are maintained, 
save for France’s right to annul on grounds of public interest. Judg¬ 
ment of courts hold in certain classes of cases, while in others a judi¬ 
cial exequator is first required. Political condemnations during the 
war are null and void and the obligation to repay war fines is estab¬ 
lished as in other parts of allied territory. 

Various clauses adjust the general provisions of the treaty to the 
special conditions of Alsace-Lorraine, certain matters of execution be¬ 
ing left to conventions to be made between France and Germany. 


The Saar—In compensation for the destruction of coal mines in 
northern France and as payment on account of reparation, Germany 
cedes to France full ownership of the coal mines of the Saar Basin 
with their subsidiaries, accessories and facilities. Their value will be 
estimated by the reparations commission and credited against that 
account. The French rights will be governed by German law in force 
at the armistice excepting war legislation, France replacing the pres¬ 
ent owners whom Germany undertakes to indemnify. France will con¬ 
tinue to furnish the present proportion of coal for local needs and con¬ 
tribute in just proportion to local taxes. The basin extends from the 
frontier of Lorraine as reannexed to France north as far as St. Wen- 
del, including on the west the valley of the Saar as far as Saarholz- 
bach and on the east the town of Homburg. 

In order to secure the rights and welfare of the population and 
guarantee to France entire freedom in working the mines, the terri¬ 
tory will be governed by a commission appointed by the League of 
Nations and consisting of five members, one French, one a native in¬ 
habitant of the Saar, and three representing three different countries 
other than France and Germany. The league will appoint a member 
of the commission as chairman to act as executive of the commission. 
The commission will have all powers of government formerly belong¬ 
ing to the German Empire, Prussia and Bavaria, will administer the 
railroads and other public services and have full power to interpret 
the treaty clauses. The local courts will continue, but subject to the 
commission. Existing German legislation will remain the basis of 
law, but the commission may make modifications after consulting a 
local representative assembly which it will organize. It will have the 


Ill 


taxing power but for local purposes only. New taxes must be ap¬ 
proved by this assembly. Labor legislation will consider the wishes 
of the local labor organizations and the labor program of the league. 
French and other labor may be freely utilized, the former being free 
to belong to French unions. All rights acquired as to pensions and 
social insurance will be maintained by Germany and the Saar com¬ 
mission. There will be no military service, but only a local gendar¬ 
merie to preserve order. The people will preserve their local assem¬ 
blies, religious liberties, schools and language, but may vote only for 
local assemblies. They will keep their present nationality except so 
far as individuals may change it. Those wishing to leave will have 
every facility with respect to their property. The territory will form 
part of the French customs system with no export tax on coal and 
metallurgical products going to Germany nor on German products 
entering the basin, and for five years no import duties on products of 
the basin going to Germany or German products coming into the basin 
for local consumption. French money may circulate without restric¬ 
tion. 

After fifteen years a plebiscite will be held by communes to ascer¬ 
tain the desires of the population as to the continuance of the exist¬ 
ing regime under the League of Nations, union with France, or union 
with Germany. The right to vote will belong to all inhabitants over 
twenty resident therein at the signature of the treaty. Taking into 
account the opinions thus expressed, the league will decide the ulti¬ 
mate sovereignty. In any portion restored to Germany, the German 
Government must buy out the French mines at an appraised valua¬ 
tion, if the price is not paid within six months thereafter this portion 
passes finally to France. If Germany buys back the mines, the league 
will determine how much of the coal shall be annually sold to France. 

German Austria—“Germany recognizes the independence of Ger¬ 
man Austria as inalienable except by consent of the League of Na¬ 
tions.” 

Tzecho-Slovakia—Germany recognizes the entire independence of 
the Tzecho-Slovak State, including the autonomous territory of the 
Ruthenians south of the Carpathians, and accepts the frontiers of this 
State as to be determined, which in the case of the German frontier 
shall follow the frontier of Bohemia in 1914. The usual stipulations 
as to acquisition and change of nationality follow. 

Poland—Germany cedes to Poland the greater part of upper Si¬ 
lesia, Posen, and the Province of West Prussia on the left bank of 
the Vistula. A field boundary commission of seven, five representing 
the allied and associated powers, and one each representing Poland 
and Germany, shall be constituted within fifteen days of the signing 
of peace to delimit this boundary. Such special provisions as are 
necessary to protect racial, linguistic or, religious minorities, and to 
assure freedom of transit and equitable treatment of commerce of 
other nations shall be laid down in a subsequent treaty between the 
five allied and associated powers and Poland. 

East Prussia—The southern and the eastern frontier of East Prus¬ 
sia as affecting Poland is to be fixed by plebiscites. 

In each case German troops and authorities will move out within 
fifteen days of the peace and the territories .will be placed under an 
international commission of five members appointed by the five allied 
and associated powers, with the particular duty of arranging for a 
free, fair and secret vote. The commission will report the results of 
the plebiscites to the five powers with a recommendation fcr the boun¬ 
dary and will terminate its work as soon as the boundary has been 
laid down and the new authorities set up. 

The five allied and associated powers will draw up regulations as¬ 
suring East Prussia full and equitable access to and use of the Vis¬ 
tula. A subsequent convention, of which the terms will be fixed by the 
five allied and associated powers, will be entered into between Poland, 
Germany and Danzig to assure suitable railroad communication across 
German territory on the right bank of the Vistula between Poland 


IV 


and Danzig-, while Poland shall grant free 
to Germany. 


passage from East 


Prussia 


..r 1 os h L r n ^ rtheaSter ^ c ° rner of East Prussia about Memel is to be 
ced^d by Germany to the associated powers, the former agreeing to 

fhe e inhabfta^rts^ ement ma ^ e ’ es l 3ec i a Py as regards the nationality of 


Danzig—Danzig and the district immediately about it are to be 
constituted into the free City of Danzig” under the guarantee of the 
League ot Nations. A high commissioner appointed by the league 
and i esident at Danzig* shall draw up a constitution in agreement with 
the duly appointed representatives of the city and shall deal in the 
nrst instance with all differences arising between the city and Poland. 
I he actual boundaries of the city shall be delimited by a commission 
appointed within six months from the signing of peace, and to include 
three representatives chosen by the allied and associated powers, and 
one each by Germany and Poland. 


A convention, the terms of which shall be fixed by the five allied 
and associated powers, shall be concluded between Poland and Dan- 
zig, which shall include Danzig within the Polish customs frontiers 
though with a free area in the port; insure to Poland the free use of 
all the city’s waterways, docks, and other port facilities, the control 
and administration of the Vistula and the whole through railway sys¬ 
tem within the city, and postal, telegraphic, and telephonic communi¬ 
cation between Poland and Danzig; provide against discrimination 
against Poles within the city and place its foreign relations and the 
diplomatic protection of its citizens abroad in charge of Poland. 


Denmark—The frontier between Germany and Denmark will be 
fixed in accordance with the wishes of the population. Ten days from 
the peace, German troops and authorities shall evacuate the region 
north of the line running from the mouth of the Schlei, south of Rap¬ 
pel, Schleswig, and Friedrichstadt along the Eider to the North Sea 
south of Tonning; the workmen’s and soldiers’ councils shall be dis¬ 
solved and the territory administered by an international commission 
of five, of whom Norway and Sweden shall be invited to name two. 

The commission shall insure a free and secret vote in three zones ; 
that between the German-Danish frontier and a line running south of 
the Island of Alsen, north of Flensburg and south of Tondern to the 
North Sea north of the Island of Sylt will vote as a unit within three 
weeks after the evacuation. Within five weeks after this vote the 
second zone, whose southern boundary runs from the North Sea, south 
of the Island of Fehr to the Baltic south of Sygum, will vote by com¬ 
munes. Two weeks after that vote the third zone running to the limit 
of evacuation will also vote by communes. The international com¬ 
mission will then draw a new frontier on the basis of these plebiscites 
and with due regard for geographical and economic conditions. Ger¬ 
many will renounce all sovereignty over territories north of this line 
in favor of the associated governments, who will hand them over to 
Denmark. 


Heligoland—The fortifications, military establishments and harbors 
of the islands of Heligoland and Dune are to be destroyed under the 
supervision of the Allies by German labor and at Germany’s expense. 
They may not be reconstructed nor any similar works built in the 
future. 

Russia—Germany agrees to respect as permanent and inalienable 
the independence of all territories which were part of the former Rus¬ 
sian Empire, to accept the abrogation of the Brest-Litovsk and other 
treaties entered into with the Maximalist government of Russia, to 
recognize the full force of all treaties entered into by the allied and 
associated powers with states which were part of the former Russian 
Empire, and to recognize the frontiers as determined thereon. The 
allied and associated powers formally reserve the right of Russia to 
obtain restitution and reparation on the principles of the present 
treaty. 


V 


PART FOUR—GERMAN RIGHTS AND INTERESTS OUTSIDE 

EUROPE 

Outside of Europe Germany renounces all rights, titles, and privi¬ 
leges as to her own or her allies’ territories to all the allied and asso¬ 
ciated powers, and undertakes to accept whatever measures are taken 
by the five allied powers in relation thereto. 

Colonies and Overseas Possessions—Germany renounces in favor of 
the allied and associated powers her overseas possessions with all 
right and titles therein. All movable and immovable property belong¬ 
ing to the German Empire or to any German state shall pass to the 
government exercising authority therein. These governments may 
make whatever provisions seem suitable for the repatriation of German 
nationals and as to the conditions on which German subjects of Euro¬ 
pean origin shall reside, hold property or carry on business. Germany 
undertakes to pay reparation for damage suffered by French nationals 
in the Cameroons or its frontier zone through the acts of German civil 
and military authorities and of individual Germans from Jan. 1, 1900, 
to Aug. 1, 1914. Germany renounces all' rights under the convention of 
Nov. 4, 1911, and Sept. 28, 1912, and undertakes to pay to France, in 
accordance with an estimate presented and approved by the repara¬ 
tion commission, all deposits, credits, advances, etc., thereby secured. 
Germany undertakes to accept and observe any provisions by the allied 
and associated powers as to the trade in arms and spirits in Africa, 
as well as to the general act of Berlin of 1885 and the general act of 
Brussels of 1890. Diplomatic protection to inhabitants of former Ger¬ 
man colonies is to be given by the governments exercising authority. 

China—Germany renounces in favor of China all privileges and in¬ 
demnities resulting from the Boxer protocol of 1901, and all buildings, 
wharves, barracks, forts, munitions of war, ships, wireless plants, and 
other public property, except diplomatic or consular establishments in 
the German concessions of Tientsin and Hankow, and in other Chinese 
territory except Kiaochow, and agrees to return to China at her own 
expense all the astronomical instruments seized in 1900 and 1901. China 
will, however, take no measures for disposal of German property in 
xne legation quarter at Peking, without the consent of the powers 
signatory to the Boxer protocol. 

Germany accepts the abrogation of the concessions at Hankow and 
Tientsin, China, agreeing to open them to international use. Germany 
renounces all claims against China or any allied and associated gov¬ 
ernments for the internment or repatriation of her citizens in China 
and for the seizure or liquidation of German interests there since Aug. 
14, 1917. She renounces in favor of Great Britain her state property 
in the British concession at Canton, and in favor of France and China 
jointly the property of the German school in the French concession at 
Shanghai. 

Siam—Germany recognizes that all agreements between herself 
and Siam, including the right of extra territoriality, ceased July 22, 
1917. All German public property except consular and diplomatic 
premises passes without compensation to Siam, German private prop¬ 
erty to be dealt with in accordance with the economic clauses. Ger¬ 
many waives all claims against Siam for the seizure and condemna¬ 
tion of her ships, liquidation of her property, or internment of her na¬ 
tionals. 

Liberia—Germany renounces all rights under the international ar¬ 
rangements of 1911 and 1912 regarding Liberia, more particularly the 
right to nominate a receiver of the .customs, and disinterests herself 
in any further negotiations for the rehabilitation of Liberia. She re¬ 
gards as abrogated all commercial treaties and agreements between 
herself and Liberia and recognizes Liberia’s rights to determine the 
status and condition of the re-establishment of Germans in Liberia. 

Morocco—Germany renounces all her rights, titles and privileges 
under the act of Algeciras and the Franco-German agreements of 1909 
and 1911 and under all treaties and arrangements with the Sherifian 


fc 

VI 


,J 1 P ire> ^he undertakes not to intervene in any negotiations as to 
Morocwb^eeii Prance and other powers, accepts all the consequences 
2,, French Protectorate there and renounces the capitulations. 
The Sherifian Government shall have complete liberty of action in re- 
gaid to German nationals, and all German-protected persons shall be 
subject to the common law. All movable and immovable German 
property including mining rights, may be sold at public auction, the 
proceeds to be paid to the Sherifian Government and deducted from the 
reparation account. Germany is also required to relinquish her inter¬ 
ests in the state bank of Morocco. All Moroccan goods entering Ger¬ 
many shall have the same privilege as French goods. 


Egypt—Germany recognizes the British protectorate over Egypt 
declared on December 18, 1914, and renounces as from August 4, 1914, 
the capitulation and all the treaties, agreements, etc., concluded by her 
with Egypt. She undertakes not to intervene in any negotiations 
about Egypt between Great Britain and other powers. There are 
provisions for jurisdiction over German nationals and property, and 
for Germany's consent to any changes which may be made in relation 
to the commission of public debt. Germany consents to the transfer 
to Great Britain of the powers given to the late Sultan of Turkey for 
securing the free navigation of the Suez canal. Arrangements for 
property belonging to German nationals in Egypt are made similar 
to those in the case of Morocco and other countries. Anglo-Egyptian 
goods entering Germany shall enjoy the same treatment as British 
goods. 


Turkey and Bulgaria—Germany accepts all arrangements which 
the allied and associated powers make with Turkey and Bulgaria 
with reference to any rights, privileges or interests claimed in those 
countries by Germany or her nationals and not dealt with elsewhere. 

Shantung—Germany cedes to Japan all rights, titles, and privileges, 
notably as to Kiaochow and the railroads, mines, and cables acquired 
by her treaty with China of March 6, 1898, and by other agreements 
as to Shantung. All German rights to the railroad from Tsing-Tao to 
Tsinanfu including all facilities and mining rights and rights of ex¬ 
ploitation pass equally to Japan with the cables from Tsing-Tao to 
Shanghai and Chefoo, the cables free of all charges. All German state 
property, movable and immovable, in Kiaochow is acquired by Japan 
free of all charges. 


PART FIVE—MILITARY, NAVAL AND AERIAL CLAUSES 

In order to render possible the initiation of a general limitation 
of the armaments of all nations, Germany undertakes directly to ob¬ 
serve the military, naval, and air clauses which follow: 

Military Forces—The demobolization of the German Army must 
take place within two months of the peace. Its strength may not 
exceed 100,000, including 4,000 officers, with not over seven divisions 
of infantry and three of cavalry, and to be devoted exclusively to 
maintenance of internal order and control of frontiers. Divisions may 
not be grouped under more than two army corps headquarters staffs. 
The great German General Staff is abolished. The army administra¬ 
tive service, consisting of civilian personnel not included in the number 
of effectives, is reduced to one-tenth the total in the 1913 budget. 
Employees of the German states such as customs officers, forest guards 
and coast guards, may not exceed the number in 1913. Gendarmes and 
local police may be increased only in accordance with the growth of 
population. None of these may be assembled for military training. 

Armaments—All establishments for the manufacturing, prepara¬ 
tion, storage, or design of arms and munitions of war, except those 
specifically excepted, must be closed within three months of the peace 
and their personnel dismissed. The exact amount of armament and 
munitions allowed Germany is laid down in detailed tables, all in 
excess to be surrendered or rendered useless. The manufacture or 
importation of asphyxiating, poisonous or other gases and all analogous 
liquids is forbidden, as well as the importation of arms, munitions and 
war material. Germany may not manufacture such material for for¬ 
eign governments. 


Vll 


Conscription—Conscription is abolished in Germany. The enlisted 
personnel must be maintained by voluntary enlistments for terms of 
twelve consecutive years, the number of discharges before the expira¬ 
tion of that term not in any year to exceed five per cent of the total 
effectives. Officers remaining in the service must agree to serve to 
the age of 45 years, and newly appointed officers must agree to serve 
actively for 25 years. 

No military schools except those absolutely indispensable for the 
units allowed shall exist in Germany two months after the peace. No 
associations such as societies of discharged soldiers, shooting or tour¬ 
ing clubs, educational establishments, or universities may occupy them¬ 
selves with military matters. All measures of mobilization are for¬ 
bidden. 

Fortresses—All fortified works, fortresses, and field works situated 
in German territory within a zone of 50 kilometers east of the Rhine 
will be dismantled within three months. The construction of any new 
fortifications there is forbidden. The fortified works on the southern 
and eastern frontiers, however, may remain. 

Control—Interallied commissions of control will see to the execu¬ 
tion of the provisions for which a time limit is set, the( maximum 
named being three months. They may establish headquarters at the 
German seat of government and go to any part of Germany desired. 
Germany must give them complete facilities, pay their expenses, and 
also the expenses of execution of the treaty, including the labor and 
material necessary in demolition, destruction, or surrender of war 
equipment. 

Naval—The German Navy must be demobilized within a period 
of two months after the peace. She will be allowed six small battle¬ 
ships, six light cruisers, 12 destroyers, 12 torpedo boats, and no sub¬ 
marines, either military or commercial, with a personnel of 15,000 
men, including officers, and no reserve force of any character. Con¬ 
scription is abolished, only volunteer service being permitted, with a 
minimum period of 25 years’ service for officers and 12 for men. No 
member of the German mercantile marine will be permitted any naval 
training. 

All German vessels of war in foreign ports and the German high 
sea fleet interned at Scapa Flow will be surrendered, the final dis¬ 
position of these ships to be decided upon by the allied and associ¬ 
ated powers. Germany must surrender 42 modern destroyers, 50 mod¬ 
ern torpedo boats, and all submarines with their salvage vessels. All 
war vessels under construction, including submarines, must be broken 
up. War vessels not otherwise provided for are to be placed in re¬ 
serve or used for commercial purposes. Replacement of ships, except 
those lost, can take place only at the end of 20 years for battleships 
and 15 years for destroyers. The largest armored ship Germany will 
be permitted will be 10,000 tons. 

Germany is required to sweep up the mines in the North Sea and 
the Baltic Sea, as decided upon by the Allies. All German fortifica¬ 
tions in the Baltic defending the passages through the belts must be 
demolished. Other coast defenses are permitted, but the number and 
caliber of the guns must not be increased. During a period of three 
months after the peace, uie German high power wireless stations at 
Nauen, Hanover, and Berlin' will not be permitted to send any 
messages except for commercial purposes, and under supervision of 
the allied and associated governments, nor may any more be con¬ 
structed. 

Germany will be allowed to repair German submarine cables which 
have been cut, but are not being utilized by the allied powers, and also 
portions of cables which, after having been cut, have been removed 
or are at any rate not being utilized by any one of the allied and 
associated powers. In such cases the cables or portions of cables 
removed or utilized remain the property of allied and associated 
powers, and accordingly 14 cables or parts of cables are specified which 
will not be restored to Germany. 

Air—The armed forces of Germany must not include any military 
or naval air forces except not ovet 100 unarmed seaplanes to be re- 


Vlll 


tained till October 1 to search for submarine mines. No dirigible shall 
be kept. The entire air personnel is to be demobilized within two 
months, except 1,000 officers and men retained till October. No avia¬ 
tion grounds or dirigible sheds are to be allowed within 150 kilometers 
of the Rhine or the eastern or southern frontiers, existing installations 
within these limits to be destroyed. The manufacture of aircraft and 
parts of aircraft is forbidden for six months. All military and naval 
aeronautical material under a most exhaustive definition must be 
surrendered within three months except for the 100 seaplanes already 
specified. 


PART SIX—PRISONERS OF WAR 

The repatriation of German prisoners and interned civilians is to 
be carried out without delay at Germany’s expense by a commission 
composed of representatives of the Allies and Germany. Those under 
sentence for offenses against discipline are to be repatriated without 
regard to the completion of their sentence. Until Germany has sur¬ 
rendered persons guilty of offenses against the laws and customs of 
war the Allies have the right to retain selected German officers. The 
Allies may deal at their own discretion with German nationals who 
do not desire to be repatriated, all repatriation being conditional on the 
immediate release of any allied subjects still in Germany. Germany is 
to accord facilities to commissions of inquiry in collecting information 
in regard to missing prisoners of war and in imposing penalties on Ger¬ 
man officials who have concealed allied nationals. Germany is to re¬ 
store all property belonging to allied prisoners. There is to be a 
reciprocal exchange of information as to dead prisoners and their 
graves. 

Graves —Both parties will respect and maintain the graves of 
soldiers and sailors buried on their territories, agree to recognize and 
assist any commission charged by any allied or associated government 
with identifying, registering, maintaining, or erecting suitable monu¬ 
ments over the graves, and to afford to each other all faclities for the 
repatriation of the remains of their soldiers. 


PART SEVEN—PENALTIES 


“The allied and associated powers publicly arraign William II of 
Hohenzollern, formerly German Emperor, not for an offense against 
criminal law, but for a supreme offense against international morality 
ind the sanctity of treaties.” 

The former Emperor’s surrender is to be requested of Holland, and 
a special tribunal set up, composed of one judge from each of the five 
great powers, with full guarantees of the right of defense. It is to be 
guided “by the highest motives of international policy with a view of 
vindicating the solemn obligations of international undertakings and 
the valdity of international morality,” and will fix the punishment it 


feels should be imposed. 

Persons accused of having committed acts in violation of the laws 
and customs of war are to be tried and punished by military tribunals 
under military law. If the charges affect nationals of only one state, 
they will be tried before a tribunal of. that state.,. if they affect 
nationals of several states they will be tried before joint tribunals of 
the states concerned. Germany shall hand over to the associated 
governments either jointly or severally all persons so accused, and 
all documents and information necessary to insure full knowledge of 
the incriminating acts, the discovery of the offenders and the just 
appreciation of the responsibility. The accused will be entitled to 
name his own counsel. 


PART EIGHT—REPARATION 

The allied and associated governments affirm and Germany accepts 
the responsibility of herself and her allies for causing all the loss and 
damage to which the allied and associated governments and their 
nationals have been subjected as the consequence of the war imposed 
upon them by the aggression of Germany and her allies. 


IX 


The total obligation of Germany to pay, as defined in the category 
of damages, is to be determined and notified to her after a fair hearing 
and not later than May 1, 1921, by an interallied reparation commis¬ 
sion. At the same time a schedule of payments to discharge the obli¬ 
gation within 30 years shall be presented. These payments are sub¬ 
ject to postponement in certain contingencies. Germany irrevocably 
recognizes the full authority of this commission, agrees to supply it 
with all the necessary information, and to pass legislation to effectuate 
its findings. She further agrees to restore to the Allies cash and cer¬ 
tain articles which can be identified. 

As an immediate step toward restoration, Germany shall pay with¬ 
in two years 20,000,000,000 marks in either gold, goods, ships, or other 
specific forms of payment, with the understanding that certain ex¬ 
penses such as those of the armies of occupation and payments for 
food and raw materials may be deducted at the discretion of the 
Allies. 

Germany further binds herself to repay all sums borrowed by 
Belgium from the allies as a result of Germany’s violation of the 
treaty of 1839 up to November 11, 1918, and for this purpose will issue 
at once and hand over to the reparation commission 5 per cent gold 
bonds falling due in 1926. 

While the allied and associated governments recognize that the 
resources of Germany are not adequate after taking into account 
permanent diminution of such resources resulting from the treaty, they 
require, and Germany undertakes, that she will make compensation 
for all damages caused to civilians under seven main categories: 

(a) Damages by personal injury to civilians caused by acts of 
war, directly or indirectly. 

(b) Damage caused to civilians, including exposure to the sea, 
resulting from acts of cruelty ordered by the enemy, and to civilians 
in the occupied territories. 

(c) Damages caused by maltreatment of prisoners. 

(d) Damages to the allied peoples represented by pensions and 
separation allowances, capitalized at the signature of this treaty. 

(e) Damages to property other than naval or military materials. 

(f) Damage to civilians by being forced to labor. 

(g) Damages in the form of levies of fines imposed by the enemy. 

“In periodically estimating Germany’s capacity to pay the repara¬ 
tion commission shall examine the German system of taxation, first 
to the end that the sums for reparation which Germany is required to 
pay shall become a charge upon all her revenues prior to that for the 
service or discharge of any domestic loan, and secondly so as to satisfy 
itself that in general the German scheme of taxation is fully as 
heavy proportionately as that of any of the powers represented on 
the commission. 

“The measures which the allied and associated powers shall have 
the right to take in case of voluntary default by Germany and which 
Germany agrees not to regard as acts of war, may include economic 
and financial prohibitions and reprisals and in general such other 
measures as the respective governments may determine to be neces¬ 
sary in the circumstances.” 

The commission shall consist of one representative each of the 
United States, Great Britain, France, Italy and Belgium, and in cer¬ 
tain cases of Japan and Serbia, with other allied powers entitled when 
their claims are under consideration to the right of presentation 
without voting power. It shall permit Germany to give evidence re¬ 
garding her capacity to pay and shall assure her a just opportunity 
to be heard. It shall make its headquarters at Paris, establish its 
own procedure and personnel, have general control of the whole 
reparation problem, and become the exclusive agency of the Allies for 
receiving, holding, selling and distributing reparation payments. A 
majority vote shall prevail except that unanimity is required on 
questions involving the sovereignty of any of the Allies, the can¬ 
cellation of all or part of Germany’s obligations, the time and manner 


X 


negotiating bonds issued by Germany, any 
a a ®tponement between 19^1 and 1926 of annual payments beyond 1930 

^ a an ^ P ° Stp ^ e ^ ent after 1 . 926 for a b eriod of more than three 
> s, the application of a different method of measuring damage 
a similar former case, and the interpretation of provisions, 
withdrawal from representation is permitted on 12 months’ notice. 

The commission may require Germany to give from time to time, 
by way of guaranty, issues of bonds or other obligations to cover such 
claims as are not otherwise satisfied. In this connection and on 
account of the total amount of claims, bond issues are presently to 
be required of Germany in acknowledgment of its debt, as follows : 

.Twenty billion marks gold, payable not later than May 1, 1921, 
without interest; 40,000,000,000 marks gold bearing 2 y 2 per cent interest 
between 1921 and 1926 and thereafter 5 per cent, with a 1 per cent 
payment beginning in 1926 and an undertaking to deliver 
40,000,000,000 marks gold bonds bearing interest at 5 per cent under 
terms to be fixed by the commission. 


Interest on Germany’s debt will be 5 per cent unless otherwise 
determined by the commission in the future, and payments that are 
not made in gold may “be accepted by the commission in the form 
of properties, commodities, businesses, rights, concessions, etc.” Cer¬ 
tificates of beneficial interest representing either bonds or goods de¬ 
livered by Germany may be issued by the commission to the inter¬ 
ested power, no power being entitled, however, to have its certificates 
divided into more than five pieces. As bonds are distributed and pass 
from the control of the commission an amount of Germany’s debt 
equivalent to their par value is to be considered as liquidated. 


Shipping—The German Government recognizes the right of the 
Allies to the replacement, ton for ton and class for class, of all mer¬ 
chant ships and fishing boats lost or damaged owing to the war, and 
agrees to cede to the Allies all German merchant ships of 1600 tons 
gross and upward, one-half of her ships between 1600 and 1000 tons 
gross, and one-quarter of her steam trawlers and other fishing boats. 
These ships are to be delivered within two months to the reparation 
commission, together with documents of title evidencing the transfer 
of the ships free from incumbrance. 

“As an additional part of reparation,” the German Government 
further agrees to build merchant ships for the account of the Allies 
to the amount of not exceeding 200,000 tons gross annually during 
the next five years. 

All ships used for inland navigation taken by Germany from the 
Allies are to be restored within two months, the amount of loss not 
covered by such restitution to be made up by the cession of the 
German river fleet up to 20 per cent thereof. 

In order to effect payment by deliveries in kind Germany is re¬ 
quired, for a limited number of years, varying in the case of each 
commodity, to deliver coal, coal-tar products, dyestuffs, and chemical 
drugs in specific amounts to the reparation commission. The com¬ 
mission may so modify the conditions of delivery as not to interfere 
unduly with Germany’s industrial requirements. The delivery of coal 
is to be based largely upon the ideal of making good diminutions in 
the production of the allied countries resulting from the war. 


Devastated Areas—Germany undertakes to devote her economic 
resources directly to the physical restoration of the invaded areas. 
The reparation commission is authorized to require Germany to 
replace the destroyed articles by the delivery of animals, machinery, 
etc., existing in Germany, and to manufacture materials required for 
reconstruction purposes; all with due consideration for Germany’s 
essential domestic requirements. 

As reparation for th„e destruction of the library of Louvain, Ger¬ 
many is to hand over manuscripts, early printed books, prints, 
et cetera, to the equivalent of those destroyed. 

In addition to the above, Germany is to hand over to Belgium, 
wings now at Berlin belonging to the altarpiece of the Adoration of 
the Lamb, by Hubert and Jan van Eyck, the center of which is now 


XI 


in the Church of St. Bavo at Ghent, and the wings, now at Berlin and 
Munich, of the altarpiece of the Last Supper, by Dirk Bouts, the 
center of which belongs to the Church of St. Peter at Louvain. 

Germany is to restore within six months the Koran of the 
Caliph Othman, formerly at Medina, to the King of the Hedjaz, and 
the skull of the Sultan Mkwawa, formerly in German East Africa, to 
His Britannic Majesty’s Government. 

The German Government is also to restore to the French Govern¬ 
ment certain papers taken by the German authorities in 1870 belonging 
then to M. Rouher, and to restore the French flags taken during the 
war of 1870 and 1871. 

Coal, et cetera—Germany is to deliver annually for 10 years to 
France coal equivalent to the difference between annual pre-war out¬ 
put of Nord and Pas de Calais mines and annual production during 
the above 10 years. Germany further gives options over 10 years for 
delivery of 7,000,000 tons of coal per year to France, in addition to 
the above of 8,000,000 tons to Belgium, and of an amount rising from 
4,500,000 tons in 1919 to 1920, 8,500,000 tons in 1923 to 1924 to Italy at 
prices to be fixed as prescribed in the treaty. Coke may be taken in 
place of coal in ratio of three tons to four. Provision is also made for 
delivery to France over three years of benzol coal tar and sulphate of 
ammonia. The commission has powers to postpone or annul the above 
deliveries should they interfere unduly with industrial requirements 
of Germany. 

Dyestuffs aiul Chemical Drugs—Germany accords option to the 
commission on dyestuffs and chemical drugs, including quinine, up to 
50 per cent of total stock in Germany at the time the treaty comes 
into force, and similar option during each six months to end of 1924 
up to 25 per cent of previous six months’ output. 

Cables—Germany renounces all title to specified cables, value of 
such as were privately owned being credited to her against repara¬ 
tion indebtedness. 

Finance—Powers to which German territory is ceded will assume 
a certain portion of the German pre-war debt, the amount to be fixed 
by the reparation commission on the basis of the ratio between the 
revenue of the ceded territory and Germany’s total revenues for the 
three years preceding the war. In view, however, of the special cir¬ 
cumstances under which Alsace-Lorraine was separated from France 
in 1871, when Germany refused to accept any part of the French public 
debt, France will not assume any part of Germany’s pre-war debt 
there, nor will Poland share in certain German debts incurred for the 
oppression of Poland. If the value of the German public property in 
ceded territory exceeds the amount of the debt assumed, the states 
to which property is ceded will give credit on reparation for the excess, 
with the exception of Alsace-Lorraine. Mandatory powers will not 
assume any German debts or give any credit for German Government 
property. Germany renounces all right of representation on or control 
of state banks, commissions or other similar international financial and 
economic organizations. 

Germany is required to pay the total cost of the armies of occu¬ 
pation from the date of the armistice as long as they are maintained 
in German territory, this cost to be a first charge on her resources. 
The cost of reparation is the next charge after making such pro¬ 
visions for payments for imports as the Allies may deem necessary. 
Germany is to deliver to the allied and associated powers all sums 
deposited in Germany by Turkey and Austria-Hungary in connection 
with the financial support extended by her to them during the war, 
and to transfer to the Allies all claims against Austria-Hungary] 
Bulgaria, or Turkey in connection with agreements made during the 
war. Germany confirms the renunciation of the treaties of Bucharest 
and Brest-Litovsk. 

On the request of the reparation commission Germany will expro¬ 
priate any rights or interests of her nationals in public utilities in 
ceded territories or those administered by mandatories, and in Turkey, 
China, Russia, Austria-Hungary and Bulgaria, and transfer them to 


XU 


the reparation commission, which will credit her with their value. 
Germany guarantees to repay to Brazil the fund arising from the sale 
of Sao Paulo coffee which she refused to allow Brazil to withdraw from 
Germany. 


PART TEN—ECONOMIC CLAUSES 

Customs—For a period of six months Germany shall impose no 
tariff duties higher than the lowest in force in 1914, and for certain 
agricultural products, wines, vegetable oils, artificial silk, and washed 
or scoured wool, this restriction obtains for 2% years more. For five 
years, unless further extended by the League of Nations, Germany 
must give most favored nation treatment to the allied and associated 
powers. She shall impose no customs tariff for five years on goods 
originating in Alsace-Lorraine, and for three years on goods originat¬ 
ing in former German territory ceded to Poland, with the right of 
reservation of a similar exception for Luxembourg. 

Shipping—Ships of the allied and associated powers shall for five 
years and thereafter under condition of reciprocity, unless the League 
of Nations otherwise decides, enjoy the same rights in German ports 
as German vessels and have most favored nation treatment in fishing, 
coasting trade, and tonnage even in territorial waters. Ships of a 
country having no seacoast may be registered at some one place 
within its territory. 

Unfair Competition—Germany undertakes to give the trade of the 
allied and associated powers adequate safeguards against unfair com¬ 
petition and in particular to suppress the use of false wrappings and 
markings and on condition of reciprocity to respect the laws and judi¬ 
cial decisions of allied and associated states in respect of regional 
appellations of ^vines and spirits. 

Treatment of Nationals—Germany shall impose no exceptional 
taxes or restrictions upon the nationals of allied and associated states 
for a period of five years ; and unless the League of Nations acts for 
an additional five years. German nationality shall not continue to 
attach to a person who has become a national of an allied or asso¬ 
ciated state. 

Multilateral Conventions—Some forty multilateral conventions are 
renewed between Germany and the allied and associated powers, but 
special conditions are attached to Germany’s readmission to several. 
As to postal and telegraphic conventions, Germany must not refuse to 
make reciprocal agreements with the new states. She must agree as 
respects the radio-telegraphic convention to provisional rules to be 
communicated to her and adheres to the new convention when formu¬ 
lated. In the North Sea fisheries and North Sea liquor traffic conven¬ 
tions rights of inspection and police over associated fishing boats shall 
be exercised for at least five years only by vessels of these powers. As 
to the international railway union, she shall adhere to the new con¬ 
vention when formulated. China, as to the Chinese customs tariff 
agreement, the arrangement of 1905 regarding Whangpoo and the Boxer 
indemnity of 1901; France, Portugal and Rumania, as to the Hague 
convention of 1903 relating to civil procedure ; and Great Britain and 
the United States, as to Article 3 of the Samoan treaty of 1899, are 
relieved of all obligation toward Germany. 

Bilateral Treaties—Each allied and associated state may renew 
any treaty with Germany in so far as consistent with the peace treaty 
by giving notice within six months. Treaties entered into by Germany 
since August 1, 1914, with other enemy states and before or since 
that date with Rumania, Russia and governments representing parts 
of Russia are abrogated, and concessions granted under pressure by 
Russia to German subjects are annulled. The allied and associated 
states are to enjoy most favored national treatment under treaties 
entered into by Germany and other enemy states before August 1, 
1914, and under treaties entered into by Germany and neutral states 
during the war. 

Pre-War Debts—A system of clearing houses is to be created 
within three months, one in Germany and one in each allied and asso- 


IU 

Xlll 


ciated state which adopts the plan for the payment of pre-war debts, 
including those arising from contracts suspended by the war, for the 
adjustment of the proceeds of the liquidation of enemy property and 
the settlement of other obligations. Each participating state assumes 
responsibility for the payment of all debts owing by its nationals to 
nationals of the enemy states, except in cases of pre-war insolvency of 
the debtor. The proceeds of the sale of private enemy property in each 
participating state may be used to pay the debts owed to the nationals 
of that state, direct payment from debtor to creditor, and all commu¬ 
nications relating thereto being prohibited. Disputes may be settled by 
arbitration by the courts of the debtor country or by the mixed arbitral 
tribunal. Any ally or associated power may, however, decline to par¬ 
ticipate in this system by giving Germany six months’ notice. 

Enemy Property—Germany shall restore or pay for all private 
enemy property seized or damaged by her, the amount of daniages to be 
fixed by the mixed arbitral tribunal. The allied and associated states 
may liquidate German private property within their territories as com¬ 
pensation for property of their nationals not restored or paid for by 
Germany, for debts owed to their nationals by German nationals and 
for other claims against Germany. Germany is to compensate its 
nationals for such losses and to deliver within six months all docu¬ 
ments relating to property held by its nationals in allied and asso¬ 
ciated states. All war legislation as to enemy property rights and 
interests is confirmed and all claims by Germany against the allied or 
associated governments for acts under exceptional war measures aban¬ 
doned. 

Contracts—Pre-war contracts between allied and associated nation¬ 
als, excepting the United States, Japan and Brazil and German nation¬ 
als are canceled except for debts for acts already performed, 
agreements for the transfer of property where the property has already 
passed, leases of lands and houses, contracts of mortgages, pledge or 
lien, mining concessions, contracts with governments and insurance 
contracts. Mixed arbitral tribunals shall be established of three mem¬ 
bers, one chosen by Germany, one by the associated states, and the 
third by agreement, or failing which, by the present President of 
Switzerland. They shall have jurisdiction over all disputes as to con¬ 
tracts concluded before the present peace treaty. 

Fire insurance contracts are not considered dissolved by the war 
even if premiums have not been paid, but lapse at the date of the first 
annual premium falling due three months after the peace. Life insur¬ 
ance contracts may be restored by payments of accumulated premiums 
with interest, sums falling due on such contracts during the war to be 
recoverable with interest. Marine insurance contracts are dissolved by 
the outbreak of war, except where the risk insured against had already 
been incurred. Where the risk had not attached, premiums paid are 
recoverable, otherwise premiums due and sums due on losses are re¬ 
coverable. Reinsurance treaties are abrogated unless invasion has 
made it impossible for the reinsured to find another reinsurer. Any 
allied or associated power, however, may cancel all the contracts run¬ 
ning between its nationals and a German life insurance company, the 
latter being obligated to hand over the proportion of its assets attrib¬ 
utable to such policies. 

Industrial Property—Rights as to industrial, literary and artistic 
property are re-established, the special war measures of the allied and 
associated powers are ratified, and the right reserved to impose con¬ 
ditions on the use of German patents and copyrights when in the 
public interest. Except as between the United States and Germany 
pre-war licenses and rights to sue for infringements committed during 
the war are canceled. 

Opium—The contracting powers agree, whether or not they have 
signed and ratified the opium convention of January 23, 1912, or signed 
the special protocol opened at The Hague in accordance with resolu¬ 
tions adopted by the third opium conference in 1914, to bring the said 
convention into force by enacting within twelve months of the peace 
the necessary legislation. 


xiv 


Religious Missions—The allied and associated powers agree that 
the properties of religious missions in territories belonging or ceded to 
them shall continue in their work under the control of the powers Ger¬ 
many renouncing all claims in their behalf. 

PART ELEVEN—AERIAL NAVIGATION. 

Aircraft of the allied and associated powers shall have full liberty 
of passage and landing over and in German territory, equal treatment 
with German planes as to use of German airdromes, and with most 
favored nation planes as to internal commercial traffic in Germany. 
Germany agrees to accept allied certificates of nationality, airworthi¬ 
ness or competency and licenses and to apply the convention relative 
to aerial navigation concluded between the allied and associated pow¬ 
ers to her own aircraft over her own territory. These rules apply 
until 1923 unless Germany has since been admitted to the League of 
Nations or to the above convention. 

PART TWELVE—FREEDOM OF TRANSIT. 

Germany must grant freedom of transit throughout her territories 
by mail or water to persons, goods, ships, carriages and mails from or 
to any of the allied or associated powers without customs or transit 
duties, undue delays, restrictions or discriminations based on nation¬ 
ality, means of transport or place of entry or departure. Goods in 
transit shall be assured all possible speed of journey, especially perish¬ 
able goods. Germany may not divert traffic from its normal course in 
favor of her own transport routes or maintain “control stations” in 
connection with transmigration traffic She may not establish any 
taxes discriminating against the ports of allied or associated powers, 
must grant the latter’s seaports all favors and reduced tariffs granted 
her own or other nationals, and afford the allied and associated 
powers equal rights with those of her own nationals in her ports and 
waterways, save that she is fi'ee to open or close her maritime coasting 
trade. 

Free Zones in Ports—Free zones existing in German ports on 
August 1, 1914, must be maintained with due facilities as to warehouses 
packing and unpacking without discrimination and without charges 
except for expenses of administration and use. Goods leaving the free 
zones for consumption in Germany, and goods brought into the free 
zones from Germany, shall be subject to the ordinary import and 
export taxes. 

International Rivers—The Elbe from the junction of the Vltava, 
the Vltava from Prague, the Oder from Oppa, the Niemen from Grodno 
and the Danube from Ulm are declared international, together with 
their connections. The riparian states must insure good conditions 
of navigation within their territories unless a special organization ex¬ 
ists therefor. Otherwise appeal may be had to a special tribunal of 
the League of Nations, which also may arrange for a general inter¬ 
national waterways convention. 

The Elbe and the Oder are to be placed under international com¬ 
missions to meet within three months, that for the Elbe composed of 
four representatives of Germany, two from Tzecho-Slovakia and one 
each from Great Britain, France, Italy and Belgium ; and that for the 
Oder composed of one each from Poland, Russia, Tzecho-Slovakia, 
Great Britain, France, Denmark and Sweden. If any riparian state 
on the Niemen should so request of the League of Nations, a similar 
commission shall be established there. These commissions shall upon 
request of any riparian state meet within three months to revive 
existing international agreements. 

The Danube—The European Danube commission reassumes its pre¬ 
war powers, but for the time being with representatives of only Great 
Britain France, Italy and Rumania. The Upper Danube is to be 
administered by a new international commission until a definite statute 
be drawn up at a conference of the powers nominated by the allied and 
associated governments within one year after the peace. The enemy 
governments shall make full reparation for all war damages caused to 


XV 


the European commission, shall cede their river facilities in surren¬ 
dered territory and give Tzecho-Slovakia, Serbia and Rumania any 
rights necessary on their shores for carrying out improvements in 
navigation. 

The Rhine and the Moselle—The Rhine is placed under the Central 
Commission to meet at Strassbourg within six months after the peace 
and to be composed of four representatives of France, which shall in 
addition select the president, four of Germany and two each of Great 
Britain, Italy, Belgium, Switzerland and The Netherlands. Germany 
must give France, on the course of the Rhine included between the two 
extreme points of her frontiers, all rights to take water to feed canals, 
while herself agreeing not to make canals on the right bank opposite 
France. She must also hand over to France all her drafts and designs 
for this part of the river. 

Belgium is to be permitted to build a deep-draft Rhine-Meuse canal 
if she so desires within 25 years, in which case Germany must construct 
the part within her territory on plans drawn by Belgium. Similarly 
the interested allied governments may construct a Rhine-Danube canal, 
both, if constructed, to come under the competent international com¬ 
mission. Germany may not object if the central Rhine commission 
desires to extend its jurisdiction over the lower Moselle, the upper 
Rhine or lateral canals. 

Germany must cede to the allied and associated governments 
certain tugs, vessels and facilities for navigation on all these rivers, 
the specific details to be established by an arbiter named by the United 
States. The decision will be based on the legitimate needs of the 
parties concerned and on the shipping traffic during the five years 
before the war. The value will be included in the regular reparation 
account. In the case of the Rhine, shares in the German navigation 
companies and property such as wharves and warehouses held by 
Germany in Rotterdam at the outbreak of war must be handed over. 

Railways—Germany, in addition to most favored nation treatment 
on her railways, agrees to co-operate in the establishment of through 
ticket services for passengers and baggage ; to insure communication 
by rail between the allied, associated and other states; to allow the 
construction or improvement within 25 years of such lines as neces¬ 
sary, and to conform her rolling stock to enable its incorporation in 
trains of the allied or associated powers. She also agrees to accept 
the denunciation of the St. Gothard convention if Switzerland and Italy 
so request and temporarily to execute instructions as to the transport 
of troops and supplies and the -establishment of postal and telegraphic 
service as provided. 

Tzecho-Slovakia—To assure Tzecho-Slovakia access to the sea, 
special rights are given her both north and south. Toward the Adriatic 
she is permitted to run her own through trains to Fiume and Trieste. 
To the north, Germany is to lease her for 99 years spaces in Hamburg 
and Stettin, the details to be worked out by a commission of three 
representing Tzecho-Slovakia, Germany and Great Britain. 

The Kiel Canal—The Kiel Canal is to remain free and open to war 
and merchant ships of the nations at peace with Germany. Subjects, 
goods and ships of all states are to be treated on terms of absolute 
equality and no taxes are to be imposed beyond those necessary for 
upkeep and improvement, for which Germany is to be responsible. In 
case of violation of or disagreement as to these provisions any state 
may appeal to the League of Nations and may demand the appoint¬ 
ment of an international commission. For preliminary hearing of 
complaints, CS-ermany shall establish a local authority at Kiel. 

PART THIRTEEN—LABOR 
% 

Members of the League of Nations agree to establish a permanent 
organization to promote international adjustment of labor conditions, 
to consist of an annual international labor conference and an inter¬ 
national labor office. The former is composed of four representatives 
of each state, two from the government and one each from the em¬ 
ployers and the employed. Each of them may vote individually. It 


XVI 


will b e a deliberative legislative body, its measures taking the form 
ot dratt conventions or recommendations for legislation, which if 
passed by two-thirds vote must be submitted to the law-making 
authority in every state participating. Each government may either 
enact the terms into law, approve the principles but modify them to 
local needs, leave the actual legislation in case of a federal state to 
local legislatures, or reject the convention altogether without further 
obligation. 

The international labor office is established at the seat of the 
League of Nations as part of its organization. 

It is to collect and distribute information on labor throughout the 
world, and prepare agenda for the conference. It will publish a period- 
ical in French and English and possibly other languages. Each state 
agrees to make to it for presentation to the conference an annual re¬ 
port of measures taken to execute accepted conventions. The gov- 
erning body is its executive. It consists of 24 members, 12 representing 
the governments, six the employers and six the employees, to serve for 
three years. 

On complaint that any government has failed to carry out a con¬ 
vention to which it is a party, the governing body may make inquiries 
directly to that government, and, in case the reply is unsatisfactory, 
may publish the complaint with comment. A complaint by one gov¬ 
ernment against another may be referred by the governing body to a 
commission of inquiry nominated by the secretary-general of the 
league. If the commission’s report fails to bring satisfactory action the 
matter may be taken to a permanent court of international justice 
for final decision. The chief reliance for securing enforcement of the 
law will be publicity with a possibility of economic action in the back¬ 
ground. 

The first meeting of the conference will take place in October, 1919, 
at Washington, to discuss the eight-hour day or 48-hour week; pre¬ 
vention of unemployment; extension and application of the interna¬ 
tional conventions adopted at Berne in 1906, prohibiting night work for 
women and use of white phosphorus in the manufacture of matches ; 
employment of women and children at night or in unhealthy work, 
employment of women before and after child birth ; maternity benefits 
and employment of children as regards minimum age. 

Nine principles of labor conditions are recognized on the ground 
that “the well-being, physical and moral of the industrial wage-earners 
is of supreme international importance.” With exceptions necessitated 
by differences of climate, habits and economic development, they in¬ 
clude the guiding principle that labor should not be regarded merely 
as a commodity or article of commerce ; right of association of employ¬ 
ers and employees ; a wage adequate to maintain a reasonable stand¬ 
ard of life ; the eight-hour day or 48-hour week; a weekly rest of a( 
least 24 hours, which should include Sunday wherever practicable; 
abolition of child labor, and assurance of the continuation of the edu¬ 
cation and proper physical development of children; equal pay for 
equal work as between men and women ; equal treatment of all work¬ 
ers lawfully resident therein, including foreigners; and a system of 
inspection in which women should take part. 

PART FOURTEEN—GUARANTEES. 

Western Europe—As a guarantee for the execution of the treaty 
German territory to the west of the Rhine, together with the bridge¬ 
heads, will be occupied by allied and associated troops for fifteen 
years. If the conditions are faithfully carried out by Germany, cer¬ 
tain districts, including the bridgehead of Cologne, will be evacuated 
at the expiration of five years. Certain other districts, including the 
bridgehead of Coblenz and the territories nearest the Belgian frontier, 
will be evacuated after ten years, and the remainder, including the 
bridgehead of Mainz, will be evacuated after fifteen years. In case 
the interallied reparation commission finds that Germany has failed to 
observe the whole or part of her obligations, either during the occu¬ 
pation or after the fifteen years have expired, the whole or part of 
the areas specified will be reoccupied immediately. If before the ex- 


f 


xvii 


piration of the fifteen years Germany complies with all the' treaty 
undertakings, the occupying forces will be withdrawn immediately. 

Eastern Europe—All German troops at present in territories to 
the east of the new frontier shall return as .soon as the allied and 
associated governments deem wise. They are to abstain from all 
requisitions and are in no way to interfere with measures for national 
defense taken by the government concerned. 

All questions regarding occupation not provided for by the treaty 
will be regulated by a subsequent convention or conventions which will 
have similar force and effect. 

PART FIFTEEN—MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS. 

Germany agrees to recognize the full validity of the treaties of 
peace and additional conventions to be concluded by the allied and 
associated powers with the powers allied with Germany, to agree to 
the decision to be taken as to the territories of Austria-Hungary, 
Bulgaria and Turkey, and to recognize the new states in the frontiers 
to be fixed for them. 

Germany agrees not to put forward any pecuniary claims against 
any allied or associated, powers signing the present treaty based on 
events previous to the coming into force of the treaty. 

Germany accepts all decrees as to German ships and goods made 
by any allied or associated prize court. The Allies reserve the right 
to examine all decisions of German prize courts. 

The present treaty, of which the French and British texts are 
both authentic, shall be ratified and the depositions or ratifications 
made in Paris as soon as possible. The treaty is to become effective 
in all respects for each power on the date of deposition of its ratifica¬ 
tion. 


XV111 


PRESIDENT WILSON’S FOURTEEN POINTS. 

Following are the famous “fourteen points” as enumerated by 
President Wilson in his address to Congress February 8, 1918, as the 
conditions of peace with Germany : 

I. Open covenants of peace, openly arrived at, after which there 
shall be no private international understandings of any kind but diplo¬ 
macy shall proceed always frankly and in the public view. 

II. Absolute freedom of navigation upon the seas, outside terri¬ 
torial waters, alike in peace and in war, except as the seas may be 
closed in whole or in part by international action for the enforcement 
of international covenants. 

III. The removal, so far as possible, of all economic barriers and 
the establishment of an equality of trade conditions among all the 
nations consenting to the peace and associating themselves for its 
maintenance. 

IV. Adequate guarantees given and taken that national arma¬ 
ments will be reduced to the lowest point consistent with domestic 
safety. 

V. A free, open-minded and absolutely impartial adjustment of 
all colonial claims, based upon a strict observance of the principle 
that in determining all such questions of sovereignty the interests of 
the populations concerned must have equal weight with the equitable 
claims of the Government whose title is to be determined. 

VI. The evacuation of all Russian territory and such a settlement 
of all questions affecting Russia as will secure the best and freest 
co-operation of the other nations of the world in obtaining for her an 
unhampered and unembarrassed opportunity for the independent deter¬ 
mination of her own political development and national policy and 
assure her of a sincere welcome into the society of free nations under 
institutions of her own choosing ; and, more than a welcome, assistance 
also of every kind that she may need and may herself desire. The 
treatment accorded Russia by her sister nations in the months to 
come will be the acid test of their good will, of their comprehension 
of her needs as distinguished from their own interests, and of their 
intelligent and unselfish sympathy. 

VII. Belgium, the whole world will agree, must be evacuated and 
restored, without any attempt to limit the sovereignty which she en¬ 
joys in common with all other free nations. No other single act will 
serve as this will serve to restore confidence among the nations in the 
laws which they have themselves set and determined for the govern¬ 
ment of their relations with one another. Without this healing act 
the whole structure and validity of international law is forever im¬ 
paired. 

VIII All French territory should be freed and the invalid portions 
restored and the wrong done to France by Prussia in 1871 in the 
matter of Alsace-Lorraine, which has unsettled the peace of the world 
frw- nearlv fifty years, should be righted, in order that peace may 
once more be made secure in the interest ot all. 

IX. A readjustment of the frontiers of Italy should be effected 
along clearly recognizable lines of nationality. 

X The peoples of Austria-Hungary, whose place among the 
nations we wish to see safeguarded and assured, should be accorded 
the freest opportunity of autonomous development. 

XI Rumania, Serbia and Montenegro should be evacuated ; occu¬ 
pied" territories restored; Serbia accorded free and secure access to the 


xix 


sea; and the relations of the several Balkan states to one another 
determined by friendly counsel along historically established lines of 
allegiance and nationality; and international guarantees of the polit¬ 
ical and economic independence and territorial integrity of the several 
Balkan states should be entered into. 

XII. The Turkish portions of the present Ottoman Empire should 
be assured a secure sovereignty, but the other nationalities which are 
now under Turkish rule should be assured an undoubted security of 
life and an absolutely unmolested opportunity of autonomous develop¬ 
ment, and the Dardanelles should be permanently opened as a free 
passage to the ships and commerce of all nations under international 
guarantees. 

XIII. An independent Polish state should be erected which should 
include the territories inhabited by indisputably Polish populations, 
which should be assured a free and secure access to the sea, and whose 
political and economical independence and territorial integrity should 
be guaranteed by international covenant. 

XIV. A general association of nations must be formed under 
specific covenants for the purpose of affording mutual guarantees of 
political independence and territorial integrity to great and small 
states alike. 


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